Miles to Go Before I Sleep
by StrawberryPajamas
Summary: Sirius Black has called on the advice of sweet yet naive Emmeline Vance to help him out with the beautiful, elusive Siobhan Burke. His plan seems perfect, but spending time with Emmeline may make him realize things about himself he didn't previously know. And most surprisingly of all, he may just do the same for her. A Sirius/Emmeline love story, Marauders-era
1. Chapter 1

_The woods are lovely, dark and deep  
>But I have promises to keep<br>And miles to go before I sleep  
>And miles to go before I sleep<em>

-Robert Frost

**Wednesday**

**September 15****th**

**9:22 am**

* * *

><p>The day felt fresh and warm to Emmeline Vance – like spring had arrived again just for the day, but without the wet mud and rain and thunderstorms. The sky, instead, was a periwinkle blue, the lake still and beautiful, and the grounds outside as lovely and green as could be hoped for. Emmeline breathed it all in as she walked down a corridor with Marlene McKinnon and Lily Evans.<p>

"What are you so happy about?" Lily gave Emmeline a disgruntled look. They were heading to Transfiguration, where they had to hand in a tricky essay assigned by McGonagall the previous week. "Figured out the incongruities of turning a camel into a soapbox, have we?"

"It's just a nice day out," Marlene spoke up for her best friend, whom she knew like the back of her hand. Emmeline merely grinned.

Lily still looked grumpy about McGonagall's essay, however, and Emmeline's smile faded slightly.

"It's alright, Lily. We all struggled with that essay," she said encouragingly. "Even if you do get a bad grade, it couldn't be much worse than the rest of ours."

"I s'pose not," Lily muttered once they reached the classroom. Students were milling around the front, and among them were the four Marauders. Lily rolled her eyes when she noticed them, but Emmeline smiled and stepped forward, waving at Lupin:

"Hey Remus – how'd you do on the essay?"

"Horrible," came his chipper reply. "Didn't understand a word McGonagall said!"

"See Lily?" Emmeline turned back to her friend. "Even Remus didn't do that well. You should be fine."

Lily still looked determined to be in a bad mood, however, and Marlene dragged Emmeline away, saying that Lily 'needed some time to stew'.

"Not everybody wants to be cheered up all the time, Em," Marlene said knowledgeably as they made their way into the classroom, sitting down at a desk near the front. "Anger relieves stress and anxiety – just give Lily some space, she'll be fine by lunch."

Emmeline felt very skeptical of this logic, but decided to just leave the subject alone. The rest of the class filed in: Sirius Black and James Potter as usual grabbed a desk together near the back, while Remus and Peter Pettigrew sat directly behind Marlene and Emmeline. Lily was sitting at a desk by herself when Siobhan Burke, a beautiful red-haired girl in their year, took the seat beside her. Lily didn't acknowledge Siobhan, but her mouth twisted slightly as she pulled out her materials from her bag. Several boys, including Sirius Black, were staring unashamedly at her as she set her bag down and took out her Transfiguration notes, flipping her long curly hair casually behind her shoulder.

"Damn," Siobhan whispered to herself while searching through her bag. She then looked up at Emmeline and flashed her a simpering smile, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "Hey Emmy – could you be a dear and lend me a quill? Pretty please?"

"Sure Siobhan," Emmeline said, ignoring Marlene as she rolled her eyes. Emmeline reached over and handed her a quill.

"Thanks Emmy," Siobhan smirked before taking her seat again.

"_Emmy_," Marlene mouthed, lip curled, and Emmeline shot her a look. They both knew Emmeline heartily disliked that nickname.

"Just leave it, Marlene."

"Stop being so _nice_ to her, she's not worth it," Marlene whispered.

"It's just a quill. Who cares?"

"She walks all over you. It's obvious," Marlene insisted, but Emmeline couldn't say anything back as McGonagall suddenly walked in to begin the lesson.

"Good morning, students," the teacher said briskly as she strode into the classroom. "Quiet down please, and bring your essays to the front."

There was a great scraping of chairs as everyone got up to give her their essays. Emmeline saw Lily scowl as she got up from her seat.

"Ready to fail 6th year already?" Marlene smirked at Emmeline as they made their way to the front. Emmeline rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same.

"I guess we'll see."

* * *

><p>An hour later, the bell rang, and the Gryffindor sixth years headed out of the Transfiguration classroom as the rest of the student body flooded the corridors. James and Sirius met up with Remus and Peter, and the four of them moved along with the crowd that was jostling its way toward the Great Hall for lunch. As the four Marauders headed downstairs, they talked about the eventful class they just had.<p>

"I don't care what McGonagall says, that pig was totally Transfigured into a trestle table," Sirius insisted.

"It was squealing like mad and still had a curly pink tail," Remus pointed out.

"Leave Padfoot alone, Moony," James put his arm around his best friend's shoulders. "He tried his best!"

"Yeah, anything can be a table if you try hard enough!" Peter remarked, and the other boys burst out laughing.

"Guys – shut up," Sirius suddenly stopped laughing: he had spotted Siobhan Burke nearby, and his attention was suddenly all on her. He motioned for his friends to stop horsing around once she was next to him.

"Hey Siobhan," he said to her casually. She glanced over at him.

"Oh, hi," she said unsmilingly. There was a short silence between them.

"So… what'd you think of Transfiguration? Bit difficult, yeah?" Sirius ran a hand through his hair, wishing fervently he hadn't just brought up something as dumb as schoolwork.

"I guess," Siobhan shrugged slightly. A moment later, she walked away, disappearing into the crowd of students without a word of parting.

"Wow, that was rude," Remus remarked once she was gone. Peter shook his head.

"Sorry mate," James muttered bracingly to Sirius, whom he knew was affected by Siobhan's cold shoulder. Sirius tried to not let it show, however.

"She'll be back," he said confidently. "I'll get to her eventually."

"I think that's what Prongs keeps saying about Lily," Remus smirked, causing Peter to laugh. James just ignored them.

~/~

The four of them had reached the Great Hall, where students were eating lunch. The sounds of talking and laughing and clinking cutlery surrounded them as they made their way to the Gryffindor table.

"Hey Marlene – hey Amal," Remus greeted the couple as he sat down opposite them. James and Sirius took the seats to his right and Peter squeezed on the seat to his left, which was partially blocked by a hefty seventh-year girl.

"Hey guys," Marlene smiled, but her smile dropped slightly when she noticed James and Sirius. Sirius was seated facing away on the bench, casually leaning back with his elbows on the table. James simply wore an indifferent expression, mussing his hair in that way he thought was so cool.

"What's up with them?" Amal frowned at Sirius and James. Amal Singh was a sixth year boy from Hufflepuff. He and Marlene had been dating for about five months, and Remus thought he was a nice guy, however Amal wasn't always on the best of terms with the other Marauders.

"Oh, just girl problems," Remus smirked. Marlene and Amal rolled their eyes at each other.

"Is Evans around?" James asked in a would-be casual voice, but the others saw right through him.

"She's in the library," Amal said. "She wanted to check over her Transfiguration notes again to make sure her essay was accurate."

James looked disappointed, but not surprised. He recovered by putting a large piece of shepherd's pie on his plate.

"What's up with Sirius?" Marlene asked, looking at the back of his dark head. "I thought he and Isabel LeCarré had worked things out."

"She's nice, but I don't think things are going to work out between us," Sirius scratched his chin apathetically, glancing to his left. "I'm considering Siobhan Burke now."

Marlene and Amal both busted out laughing. "Good luck, mate," Amal said, still shaking with laughter. "Once 'Her Highness' steps down from her throne to acknowledge us peasants, let me know."

"I like a challenge," Sirius said simply, turning around to face the table. If he was hurt by them making fun of him, he didn't show it, and their laughter soon dissipated.

"It's not a good idea, Sirius," Marlene warned, taking a crumpet from a nearby platter and putting it on her plate. "Siobhan's a piece of work: she doesn't talk to anyone except for Emmeline, and Emmeline doesn't even like her very much."

"Emmeline…?" Sirius frowned at Marlene, uncomprehending. Remus, Marlene, Amal, and Peter all stopped eating and stared at Sirius.

"Are you kidding?" Remus said dubiously after a moment. "Emmeline Vance? Blonde girl in our year? A good friend of ours… ring any bells?"

"Mm, oh yeah," Sirius said vaguely, nodding. He recalled that girl always hanging around Marlene and Lily, but never really gave her much thought. Marlene scoffed, clearly offended. Remus and Amal both shook their heads.

"So where _is_ Emmeline?" James asked Marlene, hoping to distract from his best friend's tactlessness. "Isn't she usually sitting with you guys?"

"Siobhan dragged her away. They're over there," Marlene nodded towards the other end of the table, scowling. "God knows what they're talking about."

Sirius leaned over to see where Marlene was indicating. Siobhan was a long ways away, sitting across from the blonde girl he now remembered was Emmeline. Siobhan was talking animatedly about something, and Emmeline was sitting there in silence, nodding politely.

"Why are they friends, even?" Remus frowned, looking over at them too. "Emmeline's really nice, and Siobhan's always been very… self-sufficient."

"Emmeline's _too_ nice. That's the problem," Marlene insisted. "She's terrified of disappointing people, so she doesn't realize when people like Siobhan use her as a means to an end."

Sirius listened to Marlene while still looking over at Siobhan and Emmeline. A sudden idea sparked in his brain, and he was beginning to look at Emmeline Vance in a whole new light. She was the only person in Hogwarts Siobhan talked to – that meant she had insight on Siobhan no one else had. Her inside knowledge on the most beautiful and elusive girl in this school could prove to be very valuable. Sirius suddenly felt hopeful.

"…'A means to an end'," Sirius repeated, a grin slowly appearing on his face. "Right."

* * *

><p><strong>Fun fact: 'Siobhan' is actually pronounced 'Shiv-vawn' and not 'Sow-bahn' as I initially thought. Feel stupid? Well, you're not alone. <strong>

**This is my first fanfic in a really really long time, so I hope you guys like it! Please leave a review, I would seriously appreciate it, and it will let me know if I should continue writing this story. **

**Thanks very much! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Rachel Elizabeth: **Thank you so much for reviewing! Here's the next chapter for you:)

**Thursday**

**September 16****th**

**7:45 pm**

* * *

><p>Siobhan and Emmeline were walking together down a corridor after dinner. Siobhan was blathering on about the things she hated about school while Emmeline simply walked beside her, listening silently :<p>

"I mean, I realize we're supposed to be Charms partners and everything, but Bradley Trent is a real wanker," Siobhan whined. "Seriously, he can't do a Banishing Charm for the life of him! I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but I want to get good marks like any other student! I'm going to fail my NEWTS if that stupid prat is my partner. I'm going to ask Flitwick if I can switch…"

Emmeline frowned to herself. She knew Bradley Trent as the nice guy she swapped wizard cards with once in a while, and had an urge to defend him. She didn't want to contradict Siobhan, however, and remained silent.

"I wish _you _were my partner, Emmy," Siobhan pretended to pout, hooking her arm with Emmeline's. "Then neither of us would fail. And we could spend way more time together! Oh my God, wouldn't that be _so_ much fun?"

"Yeah," Emmeline forced a smile. "Definitely! But Remus and I are partners already, and we work pretty well together. I'd hate to let him down."

"Eurgh, that's so unfair," Siobhan sulkily let go of Emmeline's arm. "Why can't _I _be compatible with a guy? Every boy in this school is a complete wanker…" she suddenly looked at Emmeline, her eyes wide. "Wait, do you _like_ Remus? Is that why you always want to partner with him?"

"What? No," Emmeline felt surprised, and quickly explained: "Remus and I are friends, we have been for years. And I already have a boyfriend, as you well know."

"You do?" Siobhan looked amazed. "Who is he?"

Siobhan always seemed to forget Emmeline was dating someone, and Emmeline always had to find the patience to remind her: "Reggie Cartwell. He's a Ravenclaw, and we've been together for about two years. You've met him before," she added.

"Hm…" Siobhan pushed her long hair back, thinking. "Is he that really short bloke?"

Reggie was over six feet tall, but Emmeline decided not to correct her. As friendly as she was to Siobhan, there was a limit to how much of her she could tolerate. They had reached the library, and Emmeline, who had a lot of homework to do, decided to say goodbye. The two parted ways, and Emmeline felt substantially happier as she made her way alone into one of her favorite places in the school.

~/~

She had found a small, secluded corner of the library, and had settled herself at a table with all of her homework spread out in front of her. She even opted to put on her thick black reading glasses as she got down to work on an Astronomy chart citing Jupiter's moons, a Potions essay about the uses of bicorn horn, two Arithmancy diagrams, and a Defense Against the Dark Arts reading about Unforgivable Curses.

She had been working for hours, and was so engrossed in her work that she hardly noticed someone approaching her table. She realized someone was there only when they spoke up:

"Hey Emmeline."

Emmeline looked up from her work, about to push her glasses up her nose, but stopped when she noticed who was speaking to her. Whoever she was expecting, it definitely wasn't the person standing in front of her right now. "Oh… hi."

Sirius Black was leaning against a nearby bookshelf, hands in his pockets. She watched his eyes drift over her table covered in schoolwork. "What are you doing?"

Emmeline, more than a little confused, glanced down at the book in front of her. "Oh, erm… Arithmancy."

"Ah," Sirius nodded, meandering toward her table and glancing over her work. "That's impressive – I never bothered with Arithmancy, but Remus says it's one of the most difficult classes he's ever taken."

He picked up a diagram and examined it interestedly, plopping himself in the chair opposite Emmeline. She stared at him.

"I'm sorry, but… is Remus looking for me or something?" Emmeline asked as politely as she could, believing that to be the only explanation as to why he was here right now. She and Sirius had never exactly been on the friendliest terms – it wasn't that she didn't like him or anything, she just thought he had better things to do with his time than talk to average girls like her. Before now, she didn't even know he knew she existed.

"No, actually…" Sirius set down the diagram, looking back up at Emmeline. "I was hoping to get your advice on something."

Her advice? That was unexpected. Although Emmeline couldn't help but feel a bit flattered that one of the most popular boys in school was approaching her for her insight. She straightened up in her seat and pushed her glasses back up her nose. "Oh! Yeah, absolutely. Is this about schoolwork or something?"

Sirius looked a little taken aback, but recovered slightly: "Oh, no… I just… I was hoping to talk to you about Siobhan Burke."

Sirius scratched the back of his head, and Emmeline blinked, realizing what he was on about. "Oh."

"I know you're just about the only person she talks to," Sirius went on. "And I thought maybe you could help me out a bit. Just give me some advice about what she likes, or… or let me in on what she's looking for in a bloke."

Emmeline, remembering the conversation she had had earlier with Siobhan, definitely did not feel like getting drawn into this territory again. She gave him an apologetic smile, "That's really sweet of you Sirius, but… I don't think I can help you. I'm really sorry, but I know Siobhan, and I know she definitely isn't looking for a relationship right now…"

Despite her apology, Sirius didn't look discouraged. "Oh no, that's okay!" He insisted, "We don't have to start a relationship right _now_. I was just hoping to know a little bit more about her. Y'know, so we could try to establish a connection, maybe?"

Emmeline smiled, feeling touched by his effort. "Wow, I didn't realize you liked her so much."

Sirius scratched the back of his head again, grimacing. "Er… yeah."

"Okay, listen," Emmeline lowered her voice, and Sirius leaned in. "I know for a fact Siobhan hates her Charms partner, Bradley. So she's planning on asking Flitwick for a new one. _Please_ don't tell her I told you." Emmeline added when Sirius' face suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree. "I don't want her to think I'm betraying her trust or anything…"

"No, of course not," Sirius said, looking positively delighted. "This is fantastic! Oh my God, thank you!" He leapt up from the table, still grinning happily.

"You're not going to tell her?" Emmeline asked apprehensively, and Sirius shook his head.

"No – it'll be our little secret," he promised, smiling widely at her, and Emmeline smiled tentatively back. "Oh this is so great. Thank you, Em, you're the best…!"

He turned and hurried away, probably off to find Siobhan and ask about being her new partner. Emmeline, still in a small amount of shock about what just happened, began to pack up her things. She vaguely wondered what Marlene would say if she knew what had just occurred.

"Boys," she muttered to herself, smiling and shaking her head.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thank you so much for reading! I would love to know what you guys think so far, so please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Special thanks to everyone who followed and favorited this story! Enjoy this next chapter.**

**Thursday**

**September 16****th**

**11:25 pm**

**Gryffindor Tower: Girl's Dormitory**

* * *

><p>"Are you serious?" Marlene stared at Emmeline from her bed. "He actually spoke with you?"<p>

"Yeah," Emmeline nodded, propping herself up on her pillow. "He wanted me to give him some advice about Siobhan."

"But you didn't actually help him, did you?" Marlene said dubiously, as if the notion of her best friend assisting Sirius Black in any capacity was ridiculous.

"Of course I did," Emmeline said. "Why wouldn't I? He seemed desperate for information about her, and I didn't want to let him down."

"What did he say exactly?"

Emmeline thought for a moment, "He wanted to know if she was interested in a relationship, and what she was looking in a guy."

Marlene shook her head. "But did he ask if she was interested in _him_?" She raised an eyebrow skeptically.

Emmeline hesitated – come to think of it, why didn't he ask that?

"I… I think so…?" she said unconvincingly.

"Well, I think Sirius was using you," Marlene said, nettled. "Remus and Amal have told me a lot of stories about what he gets up to. He lies to and manipulates girls to get what he wants before breaking their hearts. He doesn't care about Siobhan one jot – she's just pretty enough to be a trophy girlfriend."

Emmeline frowned. "That's not true! Sirius wasn't being manipulative or anything – I think he legitimately fancies Siobhan."

Marlene still looked skeptical, and Emmeline's resolve was fading fast. Could it be possible that Sirius was just using her as a means to an end? She thought she was helping him, but maybe that was his intention all along…

"If you want to know what I think, Em…" Marlene looked over at her friend, and Emmeline looked back. "Don't give him any more advice about Siobhan. You'd just be enabling him, and everyone's going to end up hurt. Seriously – it would be better for you if he just stayed away."

Marlene often gave Emmeline talks like this: ones that helped her understand her own naivete about other people and the real world. She knew Marlene did this out of love, and Emmeline could honestly appreciate them when she knew it was important. She nodded to show Marlene she would not talk to Sirius again, but when the two turned off their lamps and shut their hangings to go to sleep, Emmeline lay awake, thinking over their conversation:

Everyone believed Sirius Black to be a liar who manipulated girls, but for a moment in the library, Emmeline thought maybe he wasn't as horrible as people said he was. He sounded legitimately interested in Siobhan – but perhaps that was just her being naive about other people again. Emmeline had never spoken with Sirius before, so it was perfectly plausible that he had tricked her into helping him. He probably thought she was an idiot who was easily pushed around by others, and that's why he decided to take advantage of her…

The very idea that someone could fool her like that so easily was embarrassing to say the least, and Emmeline lay awake for several hours afterward, fretting over the issue.

* * *

><p>Emmeline woke up late the next morning, seeing as she didn't get much sleep the night before. Her conversation with Marlene stayed in the back of her mind as she rushed to get dressed and pack her bag for the day, hoping she could have a bit of breakfast before Defense Against the Dark Arts.<p>

Most of the students at the Gryffindor table had already gotten up to leave for class when Emmeline finally arrived, but the Marauders were still seated towards the back, laughing and joking around with each other as usual. Emmeline checked her watch, and was tempted to just grab an apple and rush to the third floor for class, when she heard her name being called:

"Em! There you are!"

Reggie Cartwell, Emmeline's boyfriend, waved to her through the crowd of students. Emmeline waved back, and Reggie pushed through a gaggle of Hufflepuff fourth-years to get to her.

"Hey, I was hoping to eat breakfast with you, but you never showed!" Reggie grinned as Emmeline kissed him hello. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, just overslept," Emmeline said lightheartedly, deciding not to mention her talk with Marlene.

"Hope you're not coming down with something," He looked at her, concerned, and Emmeline smiled at his thoughtfulness. Before she could reassure him she was okay, however, a voice nearby spoke up:

"Reg! C'mon – we're gonna be late!"

Emmeline noticed a large group of Ravenclaw seventh-year students standing several yards away, waiting for Reggie to finish talking to his girlfriend. Emmeline frowned at them.

"Who're they?"

Reggie glanced over, "Oh, just some friends," He said, shrugging casually. He tried to sound offhand, but Emmeline knew Reggie fairly well. His group of immediate friends never exceeded more than three people: his fellow Chasers on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team and herself. The fact that a whole group of people were waiting for her boyfriend to come to class with them was strange to say the least.

"Oh…"

"Look, we have to get to Care of Magical Creatures – feel better, okay?" He said hurriedly, and Emmeline, not knowing what else to say, just nodded. They kissed goodbye before Reggie turned and ran back to his group of friends. Emmeline just watched him leave.

_First Sirius, now Reggie… I guess I underestimate everybody_. Emmeline thought sadly.

Checking her watch again, Emmeline realized she only had a few minutes left before class started. She quickly grabbed a pear from a nearby fruit bowl and rushed out of the Great Hall, hoping the rest of the day wouldn't be as bad as it was turning out to be so far.

* * *

><p><strong>Friday<strong>

**September 17**

**5:47 pm**

"I forget – who was the witch who sang 'Dragonfire Love'?" Marlene frowned, thinking. She and Emmeline were done with their final class of the day, and were now walking down to the Great Hall together for dinner.

"Claudina Bellesnap," Emmeline said quickly. "I have her album."

"Of course you do," Marlene smiled, rolling her eyes. "I just bring it up because Amal kept mentioning that song to me last night. I think he wants to make it _our _song."

"That's cute," Emmeline smiled. "Just so long as Amal doesn't make me and him dance to it at Slughorn's Christmas party again."

Marlene whipped around to face Emmeline, eyes wide. "What? No, you guys have to dance again! That was _amazing_, when you two did that routine to 'Magic Mayhem' last year! Everyone was talking about it the next day – seriously, you guys are really talented!"

"We drank too much butterbeer," Emmeline shook her head, smirking to herself. "It was embarrassing…"

"No, it wasn't! Remus, tell Emmeline she's an good dancer," Marlene suddenly said to Remus, who was passing by in the opposite direction with James and Peter.

"Oh, you're talking about 'Magic Mayhem'?" Remus grinned. "I remember – that was seriously cool, Em!"

"Yeah, you and Amal _owned _that night," James smirked. Peter, who hadn't been to Slughorn's party, only nodded in agreement.

"Told you," Marlene crossed her arms smugly, and Emmeline shoved her playfully.

"Hey, where's your other mate?" Marlene turned to ask the boys, referring to Sirius.

James rolled his eyes. "He's working his 'charms' on Siobhan Burke in the Charms corridor."

Emmeline giggled, "Clever."

"Thanks. C'mon guys," James motioned for the other two guys to follow him upstairs. "We've got planning to do. See you girls later."

"Wait – planning for what?" Marlene asked, but the guys didn't answer as they hurried toward Gryffindor Tower. She watched them leave before shaking her head, "Whatever."

"Probably an elaborate prank on Snape or something," Emmeline suggested. They continued their trek towards the Great Hall, when Marlene noticed Professor McGonagall walking down the corridor up ahead. She suddenly remembered she needed to talk to her about the Transfiguration essay and she ran ahead, calling behind her: "I'll meet you at dinner!" Emmeline was now left to walk down to the Great Hall alone.

After continuing down several flights of stairs, Emmeline had reached the first floor landing near the Charms corridor. She heard voices coming from a nearby classroom, but Emmeline decidedly wasn't one to eavesdrop. She continued walking, but before she could pass by, a door to her right burst open and Siobhan Burke stormed out of the room, nose in the air. She didn't see Emmeline as she stalked away, and Emmeline didn't call out to her. Instead, when Siobhan had disappeared around the corner, she hesitantly moved toward the open door and peered inside:

As she thought, Sirius Black was in there. He was leaning against the adjacent wall with his arms crossed; even though his posture was causal, he glared at the opposite wall, his expression thoroughly annoyed.

"Sirius?"

He glanced over at her. "Hey."

"Is everything alright?" She took a tentative step inside. "I just saw Siobhan leaving."

"Everything's great," Sirius uncrossed his arms and ran a hand through his hair. "Everything is bloody _fantastic_…"

Emmeline didn't say anything as Sirius stood upright and began to pace back and forth along a portion of the room. He suddenly whipped his wand out, waved it at a desk, and its chair shot out towards him. He sat down on it roughly, still scowling. Emmeline could guess what had transpired in the room between them before she arrived, and she desperately wanted to set things right, despite the fact she wasn't technically involved.

"How can you be friends with her?" Sirius suddenly asked bitterly, and Emmeline knew he was referring to Siobhan. She smiled humorlessly.

"She doesn't really give me much choice." Sirius gave a short laugh like a bark, and Emmeline giggled.

"Do you know what she called me?" he asked, and Emmeline shook her head. "I believe the exact phrasing was 'a malevolent toadspawn fit to be a Slytherin'."

Emmeline looked appalled. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing!" Sirius insisted. "I just followed your advice and brought up being her new Charms partner. She went completely mental and yelled at me to stay the hell away from her before storming out…"

Sirius glowered, and Emmeline said nothing. She had seen on several occasions Siobhan respond to guys flirting with her in this fashion. It was her way of testing a boy's affection, and Emmeline could not understand it for the life of her.

"Love can be tricky sometimes," she muttered, only half-joking, but Sirius smiled all the same.

"Apparently so," he mumbled sarcastically, resting his elbows on his knees and staring at his feet. He suddenly looked up. "What do you think?"

Emmeline was caught off guard by his question, but considered it all the same. What _did_ she think? Siobhan was by no means an ideal choice of girlfriend, and Emmeline honestly thought Sirius was wrong for trying to pursue her. He seemed persistent, however, and Emmeline wanted to give him an answer that would help him try to win her over:

"Well," she said slowly. "Siobhan is… a bit difficult to understand. But perhaps she's just trying to test you. You know, to see if you've changed."

Sirius was still staring at Emmeline, but his expression had suddenly turned stony. "What do you mean 'changed'?"

Emmeline, realizing what she had said, quickly tried to explain: "Well… I mean… I guess she maybe doesn't want to just be seen as a trophy girlfriend, or something…"

Sirius now looked angry, and Emmeline fervently wished she had kept her mouth shut. "Oh, so I'm just some bloke who collects 'trophy girlfriends'? That's what you think of me?"

"What? N-no…!" Emmeline stammered. Why did she have to say that?

"Well, clearly you do, seeing as you think I need to _change_!" Sirius got furiously to his feet. "But of course, you seem to know me _so well_, considering we've had a grand total of one conversation before now…!"

"Sirius, please! I didn't mean it like that," Emmeline stood up as well, very close to tears. Sirius ignored her, however, and moved towards the door.

"Y'know, Remus said you were someone who gave good advice," Sirius suddenly turned to look at Emmeline from the doorway. "Clearly he was wrong."

Without another word he turned and stalked out of the classroom, leaving Emmeline quite alone, and it was the bitter disappointment she heard penetrating his voice that made the tears begin to stream down her face.

* * *

><p><strong>Dramatic endings are the best:) If you like this story so far, please leave a review, and I will continue writing! Thanks a bunch!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Savannah's Angels: **Thank you so much! Here it is for you:)

**YouAreMyRevolution: **Thanks! I'm very happy with how this story is turning out so far. Hope you like this next chapter!

**Iceandfire 105: **Thank you! Sirius is a pretty complicated character, I think – I hope to develop him a bit more over the course of this fic. Hope you enjoy this next chapter!

**Guest: **All this speculation… I love it!:) Lol you'll just have to wait and see how the rest of this story goes, but in the meantime, here's the next chapter!

**Saturday**

**September 18****th**

**8:35 pm**

* * *

><p>Sirius Black knew he had a bit of an anger issue. While most of the time he felt happy joking around with his friends, he knew he was easily capable of lashing out when irritated. Growing up a Black hadn't exactly made him soft-hearted – he was used to fighting when angry or provoked, and despite the fact he was now estranged from his family, his need to lash out when angry never went away. However, he often tried to convince himself it was the hound in him that made him so fierce and authoritative. Not to mention the people who ended up on the receiving end of his rages were most often people who deserved it – like his parents or his brother, or Snivellus.<p>

After lashing out at Emmeline, however… well, Sirius didn't know what to think about that.

He had stormed away after snapping at her, and for a while afterward, felt justified in his anger – who was she to judge him? But, after returning to Gryffindor Tower, he was able to think more clearly, and after distinctly remembering the look on Emmeline's face when he was yelling at her, his defensive stance soon deflated into a sickening feeling of regret. Emmeline had been nice enough to help him, and he repaid her kindness with hateful words and misguided anger.

Lashing out at someone like Emmeline Vance did not feel good at all. It felt like kicking a puppy in the face.

Sirius did not consider himself a bad person, and knew the guilt he felt was a sign that he should probably apologize to her. Knowing Emmeline, she would accept his apology without question, and he would feel less guilty about getting angry at her. It was a win-win situation, and Sirius wasted no time the next morning getting down to the Great Hall to seek her out.

He only had to search for a few seconds before he noticed her: she was sitting at the far end of the Gryffindor table by herself, eating breakfast while reading a book propped against a juice jug. He made a beeline for her.

"Hey Emmeline."

He saw her pause in the middle of chewing her toast before looking up at him. "Oh. Hi Sirius."

"Mind if I sit down?" She didn't respond, but Sirius took the seat opposite her anyway. He took a pear from a nearby fruit bowl but didn't bite into it.

"What are you reading?" he asked, trying to sound friendly.

"_Hogwarts, A History_," she responded simply. He didn't have to be a mind-reader to know she was still upset about last night.

"Emmeline…" Sirius began, and she looked at him. "I… I wanted to apologize to you about last night. I was upset at Siobhan, and I took it out on you, which wasn't right. I wasn't actually angry at you, and I shouldn't have said those things." He looked down. "Honestly, I'm really sorry."

Emmeline sighed dejectedly and closed her book. "No, _I'm_ sorry. I shouldn't have said those things to set you off in the first place. They were mean and untrue."

Sirius couldn't help but grin wryly. "It's okay. I know I've had more than a few girlfriends."

"I still shouldn't have said it," Emmeline shook her head. "I feel terrible."

"Me too," Sirius admitted. "Can we just forget it ever happened?"

"Sure," Emmeline smiled, and Sirius saw the way her blue eyes sparkled and the way her cheeks colored to indicate she had truly forgiven him. Sirius grinned back, and stuck out his hand for her to shake.

"Friends?"

She laughed before taking his hand. "Friends."

They shook, and both smiled at the other before letting go. A comfortable silence settled between the two as Sirius took a bite of his pear and Emmeline packed _Hogwarts_, _A History _back into her bag.

"So… are you still considering Siobhan after last night?" Emmeline glanced up at Sirius, and he laughed.

"Maybe. I'll probably give it a few days before trying again," he said, and Emmeline giggled.

"That's probably the safe way to go," she said. "But you're persistence is admirable."

"Is 'admirable' the right word?"

They both laughed. "Seriously though," Emmeline insisted. "I'd be flattered if a guy put as much effort to pursue me as you're doing with Siobhan." She took a sip of orange juice, and Sirius shrugged, his smile fading somewhat.

"Yeah, well… when you've got nothing much else to offer a girl, what else is a bloke to do?" Sirius gazed off in the distance, his mind flitting about like a moth near a flame. "I guess I sometimes think I'll never find her," he said without thinking.

"Find who?" Emmeline asked, and Sirius looked at her.

"The one girl who's worth all that effort," he said simply. There was a short silence, and Emmeline looked at him sympathetically.

"That must be difficult," she remarked quietly, and Sirius glanced away. The faces of all the girls he had either dated or considered dating began to swirl around in his mind, taunting him with his personal failings.

"Yeah…"

There was another short silence, and Sirius felt this conversation needed to end. He let out a long breath, and forced a smile.

"Well, I think that's enough about my sordid past," he stood up with a casual grin. "I should really go – James and the others are probably wondering where I've gone."

"Oh, okay," Emmeline still looked mildly concerned, but smiled at him all the same. "Goodbye then. Say hi to Remus for me!"

"Sure thing. Bye Emmeline," Sirius grinned at her before turning and walking away.

~/~

Sirius had reached the entrance hall when he realized his mind was feeling a lot lighter than it did before his talk with Emmeline. Sirius wasn't often one to voice aloud his inner thoughts and feelings, but something about Emmeline made him want to open up – he sort of understood now why Remus had always been such good friends with her. Sirius started to climb the grand staircase, thinking that Emmeline Vance was a kind soul, pure and simple…

"Sirius!"

Sirius turned and looked back down the staircase to notice Isabel LeCarré smiling at him from the first floor landing. She waved, and Sirius silently cursed himself – he realized he had completely forgotten to break up with her last week.

"Oh, hey Izzy," he said casually as she approached. He had also forgotten how tall she was when she stopped in front of him.

"Where have you been, Sirius? I haven't seen you in ages," she pouted. She had long brown curls and full lips, which Sirius guessed was why he was attracted to her in the first place.

"Oh, y'know… been busy," he said vaguely, shrugging his shoulders. Isabel smiled coyly.

"Care to be busier?"

Sirius stared at her.

* * *

><p><strong>Saturday<strong>

**September 18****th**

**8:23 pm**

**Gryffindor common room**

"Hey Em – what's up with your boyfriend?" Lily asked Emmeline as they set up the wizard's chess board by the fire. "Reggie seems a bit different."

"How do you mean?" Emmeline plopped down in her favorite armchair, ready to play.

"Well, I saw him at lunch today and he was surrounded by like a dozen people," Lily began setting up the chess pieces. "It looked like he was telling a joke or something because everyone was laughing and being really loud. I tried to say hi but he didn't even see me."

"Oh yeah. Apparently he's got an entourage now," Emmeline chuckled, shaking her head. "I saw them with him the other day. It's pretty weird."

Marlene was sitting down on the couch between them, paging through her Potions book. "What's so weird about it? It's his last year at Hogwarts – let him enjoy himself a little."

"He should be focusing on his NEWTS, not his popularity," Emmeline said stoutly. Lily had finished setting up the chess board and the two girls began to play. "Maybe I should talk with him…"

"Talk with who?" James suddenly approached, accompanied by the other Marauders. He grinned at Lily, who determinedly avoided his gaze.

"No one," Marlene glanced up at them. "What are you guys up to?"

"We were going to go down to the library, but I think we'll hang around here for a bit," James plopped down on the couch cushion beside Marlene. "Can I have the next game, Lily?"

"No," Lily said firmly, prodding her pawn forward.

"Well, you stay if you want – I've got Muggle Studies to finish," Remus turned to leave out the portrait hole, quickly followed by Peter. Sirius just casually leaned against the couch with his arms crossed, watching the chess match.

"Don't you lot have homework to do?" he asked idly, pushing his hair away from his eyes.

"We finished over an hour ago," Emmeline moved her knight and captured Lily's rook. "Yes!"

"Such overachievers," James leaned back on the couch. "I haven't even started Slughorn's Potion's essay yet."

Lily looked shocked. "But it's due Monday!"

"So it is," James grinned unconcernedly. "I'll get it done… care to help me?"

"If by 'help me' you mean 'let me copy yours', then no," Lily scowled. "Find someone else to help you, Potter."

"I think Prongs would prefer _you_ to help him," Sirius smirked. "He needs someone to keep busy with."

Marlene and Emmeline hooted with laughter as James threw a nearby couch cushion at his friend. Sirius dodged it, laughing.

"What – like the way you were _keeping busy_ with Isabel LeCarré this morning?" James shot back.

That quieted the laughter.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sirius said coolly, but the color had drained out of his face. Lily, Marlene, and Emmeline were all looking at him.

"Dorcas Meadows saw you two snogging in the Charms corridor after breakfast this morning," James pressed on. "She told everyone."

Sirius didn't say anything – guilt and embarrassment began bubbling up inside his chest. He tried his best to avoid Emmeline's gaze in particular, but her eyes seemed to be burning holes into his skin. He swallowed.

"She's making it up," Sirius picked up the cushion and chucked it back at James. "I guess she and you both need to learn how to keep your mouths shut."

He felt angry and humiliated, and was desperately trying to keep it under control. Not wanting to cause a scene, he turned and walked away, out of the portrait hole toward the library to find Remus and Peter. He just needed to get out of there.

He kept walking along, but Emmeline's piercing blue eyes didn't seem to want to go away.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you so much to everyone who followed and favorited this story - you're the best!<br>**

**Merry Christmas!**


	5. Chapter 5

**iceandfire 105: **Thank you! Hope you had a nice Christmas – here's the next chapter for you:)

**YourAreMyRevolution: **I agree, Emmeline is pretty naïve, but that's honestly why I love writing her so much. I deliberately tried to make her different from the other sort of insolent, coquettish girls people tend to pair Sirius up with. I wanted to give him a nice girl for a change! Lol and as for Reggie, well you'll have to wait and see:) Enjoy this next chapter!

**Coronae Borealis: **Wow, thank you so much! I'm a total Sirius/Emmeline shipper too:) I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

**Guest: **Yah, no problem! I really wanted to write a Sirius POV chapter, and I'm glad it worked out. As for what's going on with the other characters, well, you'll just have to wait and see:) In the meantime, speculate some more and enjoy this next chapter! Lol

**Valene-Duchannes**: Thank you! Hopefully I'll be able to write longer chapters as the story progresses, but right now I'm just trying to update as quickly as possible. Hope you enjoy this one!

**Sunday**

**September 19****th**

**6:45 pm**

**Gryffindor common room**

* * *

><p>Marlene often couldn't believe the amount of homework Hogwarts professors gave their sixth year students. She figured since she took the OWLS last year (and earned nine in total, thank you very much), she figured the rest of her time at school would be slightly more bearable, as she would now be taking fewer classes. That was certainly not the case, however: never in her entire student career had she more essays to write, more books to read, or more runes to interpret. Her OWL year seemed almost like a joke compared to the classes she was taking now, and even though the semester had barely begun, Marlene couldn't wait for it to be over already.<p>

It was Sunday night, and Marlene had all of her homework spread out on top of a table in the crowded common room. Undeterred by the noisy Gryffindors, Marlene began working diligently on an essay about vampires for Defense Against the Dark Arts, determined to get a perfect grade despite the difficulties she faced as a sixth year NEWT student.

So engrossed was she in her work that she hardly noticed someone approaching her table. It wasn't until he plopped himself down in a nearby armchair and spoke up did she know who it was:

"I feel like crap," Sirius Black stated bluntly, leaning back on the chair.

Marlene barely glanced up from her work. "No offense, but could you feel like crap somewhere else? I'm kind of busy."

Sirius didn't move, and Marlene internally rolled her eyes. He didn't say anything else, so she kept working on her essay; she had written down several good lines about the power of wooden stakes when Sirius finally spoke up again:

"So where's your friend?"

Marlene felt mildly annoyed, and didn't look up when she spoke: "She and Siobhan are in the library. Why?"

Sirius scratched his ear, "No reason…"

There was another short silence, and Marlene was getting even more irritated. She seriously considered yelling at Sirius to leave her alone so she could finish her work in peace when he suddenly leaned towards her, looking earnest:

"Hey, so… you know Emmeline, right?"

Marlene looked up at him, feigning confusion. "Emmeline? Is she the blonde one?"

Sirius rolled his eyes, understanding that was at his expense. "Funny."

Marlene turned back to her essay. "What about her?"

Sirius was silent for a moment, looking uncomfortable. "I… I think she sort of hates me."

"Wouldn't doubt it," Marlene said stoutly. "But why?"

Sirius took a deep breath and began to explain to her the whole situation – about how he had spoken with Emmeline about Siobhan, how he snapped at Emmeline, apologized to her, convinced her to keep helping him with Siobhan, and then hooked up with Isabel immediately after. Marlene finally set aside her essay to listen to his story; when he finished, she let out a long breath.

"Wow," she said. "I see what you mean. That was a real dick move, Sirius…"

"I know," Sirius said, looking dejected. "Believe me, I do. But Emmeline hasn't said anything to me since yesterday, so I assume she must hate me now."

Marlene looked at him for a second before turning back to her homework. "She doesn't hate you."

Sirius frowned. "Has she said something?"

Marlene shook her head. "No, I just know Emmeline. She doesn't hate you – she couldn't."

Sirius stared at Marlene for a second before shifting in his seat. "Er…why?"

Marlene sighed, setting her quill down. "Because that's just the kind of person Emmeline _is_. She doesn't get angry or hateful towards people, despite what they've done." She looked up at Sirius. "She forgives everyone, no matter what."

Sirius still seemed discouraged. "I opened up to her, and she was kind to me – but I feel like I betrayed her kindness." He shook his head, looking agitated. "That shouldn't be okay."

"And it's not! Look, if you'd have done that to _me_, I would have torn you a new one – but not Emmeline. If anything she probably feels bad for you." Marlene stood up and began to gather up her things, deciding to finish her essay in the library. "I'm not saying it makes sense," she added reasonably, shoving her book in her backpack.

Sirius looked skeptical as he watched Marlene packing her things away. "Nobody is _that_ nice," he blurted out, staring at her disbelievingly. Marlene swung her heavy bag over her shoulder.

"Emmeline is," she said simply, then added: "And yes, that probably makes her a naive idiot sometimes. But it's only when arseholes like you take advantage of her when it becomes a real problem."

Sirius didn't say anything – he only looked down at his feet, knowing he had been at fault. Marlene said nothing else as she hoisted up her bag and turned to leave, recognizing Sirius's guilt as what was normal for people who first encountered the unconditional niceness of Emmeline Vance.

* * *

><p><strong>Mond<strong>**ay**

**September 20****th**

**4:01 pm**

**Potions classroom**

"Did you remember to put in the Lethe water?"

"Yes, I did," Siobhan insisted, looking angry. "It's this stupid cauldron – it's been giving me problems all year!"

"Hm… maybe it was the temperature," Emmeline looked at the instructions, then at their potion, which resembled clumpy purple mucus. "Did you heat it up enough?"

Siobhan's face fell. "Oh – we were supposed to heat it?"

Emmeline grimaced. "…Yeah."

It was after Potions class, and the Gryffindor sixth years were all finishing up for the day, talking amongst themselves while packing away their things. Emmeline and Siobhan had been paired up to make Amortentia, a powerful love potion, but over two hours of hard work and complicated instructions had resulted in zero marks for the both of them. Emmeline would be lying if she said she wasn't at least a little discouraged.

"It's okay," Emmeline tried to sound reassuring as she watched Siobhan angrily putting away her brass scales. "I'm sure Professor Slughorn will let us try again."

"What's the point?" Siobhan huffed dispiritedly, shoving her books in her backpack. "We're just going to fail all over again! This class is complete rubbish…"

"Emmeline?"

The two girls turned around and noticed Sirius Black standing there. Siobhan immediately straightened up, flipping her long red hair back.

"What do _you _want?" she asked him snootily, putting her hands on her hips. Emmeline noticed she tilted her chin up at an angle to make her features look more attractive.

"I was hoping to have a word with Emmeline," Sirius said to her. Siobhan looked slightly affronted, and Emmeline glanced between the two.

"Um… sure," she said to Sirius after Siobhan didn't say anything. Emmeline followed him out of the classroom, getting only a brief glimpse at the look on Siobhan's face as they walked away.

Gryffindor students were milling around outside the classroom, chatting excitedly since their classes were over and done with for the day. Sirius led Emmeline down the corridor, slightly away from the other students, before stopping and turning to face her once again.

"Look, Emmeline," he said immediately. "About Isabel…"

He hesitated, searching for the right words to properly articulate his regret. Emmeline quickly spoke up, laughing lightly:

"Oh! No, Sirius – you don't have to explain that me."

Sirius stared at her. "What?"

"I know that you like to go out with other girls, it's not that big a deal," she insisted. "If you want to go out with Isabel instead of Siobhan, you can. It's none of my business."

Sirius looked like he'd been hit by a train. "I figured you must've hated me…" he said quietly after a moment, bewildered. Emmeline shook her head.

"Of course not! How could I hate you for doing what you've always done? Like I said, it's none of my business."

Sirius now shook his head. "No, it is. I sort of _made_ it your business, and that's why I wanted to talk to you…" he glanced down at his feet. "I wanted to say that... I'm really sorry." He paused for a second before glancing up to meet her eyes again. "About everything."

Emmeline frowned in confusion. "Everything?"

Sirius nodded, looking uncharacteristically solemn. "Everything."

Emmeline didn't know what to say. A part of her wanted to protest his apology as needless, but the look on his face silenced all her objections. She vividly remembered her talk with Marlene, when she said that Sirius was a manipulative liar who used girls to his own end. Marlene seemed convinced that was all he was doing when he appealed to Emmeline about Siobhan: here, though, it almost looked like Sirius was apologizing for all of that. And it was she, Emmeline, who made him _want_ to apologize. She was surprised at his humbleness.

"I… don't know what to say," she said after a moment. It was the truth, at least.

"You don't have to say anything. In fact, I would understand if you never wanted to speak to me again," he said honestly. "I just hope you know that I don't want to be that sort of person anymore… I want girls to be able to trust me."

Emmeline couldn't help but smile sardonically. "Marlene says I'm too trusting anyways."

"Really?" Sirius grinned slightly.

"Well, why would she lie?" They both laughed, and a comfortable silence soon stretched between them.

"We're okay, Sirius," Emmeline said quietly after a moment, because Sirius looked like he was struggling to express his regret to her once again. He looked at her for a moment before nodding slightly, glancing down.

"Thank you," he said, and the sincerity in his voice made Emmeline smile.

"That's what friends are for."

~/~

Marlene and Lily were watching Sirius and Emmeline talk from a few yards away. They slowly turned to look at each other.

"Did that… really just happen?" Lily asked.

"Yep," Marlene said.

"Emmeline managed to properly humble Sirius Black," Lily shook her head disbelievingly. "How?"

"She has magic neither of us will ever understand," Marlene said sagely, and the two girls grinned wryly at one another.

"That she does."

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you so much for your support guys! It means a lot:) Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter!<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

**iceandfire 105**: Thanks! I totally agree:) Here's the next chapter for you!

**Wednesday**

**October 5****th**

**11:53 am**

* * *

><p>Over the course of two weeks, it seemed as if so much had changed. The amount of homework given to the sixth years had mounted even higher, as teachers tried to prepare their students for their soon-to-come NEWT exams. The days, too, began to get shorter and colder, frost beginning to coat the grounds every morning in a chilly layer. The sun would shine weakly behind gray clouds as the students went about their day, breath now rising in puffs before them as they walked along the corridors, eager to find the warmth of the common room fires.<p>

Among all that had changed, Sirius Black and Emmeline Vance had also become sort of friends. Although their friendship did not consist of very much: they would only sometimes smile at each other when passing in the corridors or make small talk while in the common room. They still spent the majority of their time with their respective cliques, so their newfound comradery went by mostly unnoticed.

However, Marlene was highly in favor of Emmeline's friendship with Sirius, as she made a point to tell her during Herbology class one day. Her approval came as a surprise to Emmeline, considering how much Marlene was initially against him speaking to her; but Marlene explained how she was only trying to protect Emmeline.

"Sirius could have very easily pulled a 'Siobhan' and used your kind nature to his advantage," Marlene said knowledgeably as she and Emmeline transplanted Venomous Tentaculas at the same trestle table. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times – you're too nice for your own good."

Emmeline threw a handful of dragon dung at Marlene, who jumped and squealed in disgust as it splattered on her cloak. "'Too nice', you say?" Emmeline smirked triumphantly as Marlene brushed the gunk off of her.

"Point taken," Marlene flicked the clumps of dragon dung at Emmeline, and the two laughed.

"Five minutes, everyone!" Professor Sprout called to the class at large. "Clean up after you've finished repotting your Tentaculas. And don't forget to hand in your essays on gillyweed before you leave!"

"Sirius and I are barely friends," Emmeline pointed out to Marlene as they put away their things. "He basically just knows I exist now."

"Please. After his heartfelt apology to you outside the Potions classroom?" Marlene rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Your souls are practically joined together as _one_."

Emmeline went red. True, she and Sirius had connected after their conversation two weeks ago, but Sirius hadn't mentioned their talk at all since it happened. Emmeline suspected he was a bit embarrassed about it, and she didn't want to make him uncomfortable, but at the same time she couldn't deny how happy his apology had made her.

Marlene and Emmeline finished cleaning up and had handed in their essays before walking up the sloping grounds toward the castle with the other Gryffindors. The Marauders were grouped together several yards away: Sirius and James had stolen Peter's bag and were playing keep away with it, levitating it between each other with their wands while Peter made desperate lunges for it. Emmeline could tell Peter was trying not to show how upset he was by laughing along with his friends, while Remus simply stayed a few paces away from the commotion.

"Why are they doing that?" Marlene frowned, watching Sirius and James too. "What's the point?"

"It's just in good fun," Emmeline said, although she frowned as well. A part of her wanted to go over to them and help Peter out.

"Oi!" Sirius had noticed Marlene and Emmeline watching them. He waved. "You two want to be next?"

"Not particularly!" Emmeline called back. Marlene snickered.

"Where's your sense of fun?" Sirius flicked his wand and Peter's bag flew up in the air – its contents spilled out and flew in every direction. Peter gave a horrified yelp as James roared with laughter. Emmeline quickly rushed toward them, wand in hand.

"Emmeline!"

The books and parchment that flew from Peter's bag suddenly froze in midair: Emmeline had shot a Freezing spell at them. She waved her wand in a large sweeping motion, causing all of the bag's contents to soar in an arc before landing delicately down on the frozen ground in a neat pile. Students nearby had stopped to watch – some of them, including Lily Evans, whooped and cheered at Emmeline's interference, while other's gasped at her audacity. Sirius stood dumbstruck.

"Nice one, Em," Marlene laughed, clutching her best friend's arm. "That was awesome!"

Peter silently scrambled to collect his things, not even saying a simple 'thank you' to Emmeline. Sirius watched Peter, his wand at his side while his face stayed unreadable. Emmeline guessed he was angry, and she watched him warily.

Sirius's eyes moved up to meet hers. After a long moment, where they simply looked at each other, the side of his mouth turned up slightly in an appreciative smirk.

Emmeline smiled back, feeling immensely relieved. Sirius's face soon broke out into a full grin, and he began to laugh, shaking his head. The other students began to crowd around Emmeline, talking loudly while chivying her towards the castle:

"That was great, Emmeline," Frank Longbottom laughed.

"Yeah, that was way cool!" Mary MacDonald giggled.

"I've never seen anyone do that to Sirius," Lily sounded awed. "That was really brave, Em!"

Emmeline didn't say anything as she was swept along by the group of students; she glanced over her shoulder and saw Sirius talking with Peter and Remus in the distance. Sirius looked over and caught Emmeline's eyes again, and she quickly looked away, smiling slightly to herself.

* * *

><p>The group of students arrived together in the Great Hall for lunch and soon dispersed, chatting amongst themselves. Marlene, Emmeline, and Lily all settled together at the Gryffindor table, still discussing what had happened.<p>

"You're lucky a teacher didn't spot you," Lily remarked as she grabbed a bowl of salad. "You could have gotten in a lot of trouble."

"Sirius and James were at fault just as much as I," Emmeline said, choosing a crumpet but not eating it.

"Try _more_ at fault," Marlene scoffed. "You were only trying to help! Sirius and James should have gotten a detention for that stunt."

"Our ears are burning," James and the rest of the Marauders approached the girls, sitting down nearby. Lily and Marlene rolled their eyes.

"Miss Freeze, if I may?" Sirius smiled at Emmeline, taking the seat across from her. "Want to come to Charms with me and interfere with some of my spells?"

Emmeline smiled sarcastically back, understanding he just wanted to joke around with her. "We're in the same class. So you can count on it."

Marlene and Lily laughed, and Sirius continued to grin at Emmeline. Remus took the seat beside her.

"Leave her alone, Padfoot. She was just trying to do the right thing."

"I didn't see _you_ doing anything, Remus," Lily back shot at him.

"Yeah, Moony. How will Padfoot and I ever learn?" James elbowed Remus from his other side.

"Emmeline'll keep us in line, won't you, Em?" Sirius was still grinning at Emmeline, who was beginning to wonder why his gaze wouldn't waver from hers.

"If it's got to be done," she smiled anyway, and Sirius chuckled.

"You guys are weird," Marlene stood up, turning toward the Hufflepuff table. "I'm going to eat with Amal. See you later," she was about to leave, but suddenly stopped, turning back toward Emmeline. "Oh! Before I forget – Amal was wondering if you and Reggie wanted to come with us to Hogsmeade on Halloween."

Emmeline frowned in confusion, "But that's ages away."

Marlene shrugged. "I know. But he wants to plan this whole double-date thing with you guys… I dunno, it could be pretty fun."

"I guess. I'm seeing Reggie tonight, so I can ask him then. He'll probably be fine with it." Emmeline was aware the others were listening to her conversation.

"Great. Let me know," Marlene grinned before turning around and walking away. Emmeline turned back to her plate.

"So how is Reggie?" Remus asked her, spooning mashed potatoes onto his own plate. Sirius turned his head.

"Pretty good. He's enjoying seventh year," Emmeline smiled. "And it helps that Ravenclaw just beat Slytherin in their match last week…"

James's eyes widened as he stared at Emmeline. "Wait – you're dating Reggie Cartwell? The Ravenclaw Chaser?" Emmeline nodded, and James gaped at her. "No way! He was on _fire_ in that last match! What did he make, like ninety points?"

"A hundred, counting that penalty shot," Emmeline grinned proudly. "It was his personal best."

James shook his head. "Man, I don't get why he didn't become Captain this year. Smitts is seriously awful – I bet Flitwick is kicking himself for choosing her."

"She's been on the team longer than anyone," Remus said reasonably. "Maybe Flitwick was going by seniority when he picked her."

"Well maybe if he went by _talent_, Ravenclaw would win a bit more," James said, and suddenly grinned. "It worked for Gryffindor when I became Quidditch Captain, after all."

Lily rolled her eyes, but the boys didn't seem to notice as they continued to discuss their favorite sport. Emmeline decided not to participate, choosing instead to chat with Lily about schoolwork and other things. After a few minutes, Emmeline chanced a glance over at Sirius: he had finally averted his eyes from her, and looked either at his friends or at his plate of food. He had glanced at Emmeline for a split second once, but quickly looked away upon noticing her gaze.

When it was time to get to class, all of them stood up to leave together. James was trying to walk beside a disgruntled Lily, who was desperately trying to cling to Emmeline's arm. Remus and Peter were walking silently together, while Sirius strode ahead of the group alone. Emmeline watched him, feeling something deep in her chest that may have been guilt.

They had reached the Charms classroom, where Lily had finally shaken off James. She dragged Emmeline to sit on the other side of the classroom, whispering fiercely all the while:

"Honestly, the _nerve_ of him… following me around like a bloody lapdog… some guys just can't take a hint…"

Emmeline hardly listened – her mind was still dwelling on Sirius. The part of her that knew why he had been staring at her tried desperately to dismiss it as a trick of the mind. Yet that feeling of guilt still remained.

Emmeline sat down with Lily at their desk, thinking that friendship with Sirius Black, as happy as it made her, would probably be different than anything else she had ever experienced before.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys! Sorry I took a few extra days to update - New year's is always a super busy time for me. But here's the new chapter for you! I really hope you like it, and if you do, please leave a review :)<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**YouAreMyRevolution: **Thank you! Yeah it's pretty busy, but that's the way it usually goes. Anyway, here's the next chapter for you!

**Thursday**

**October 14****th**

**7:45 pm**

**Gryffindor common room**

* * *

><p>"Hey Moony, do you know the origins of the Furnunculus Curse?" James stared at his unfinished Charms essay, sucking on the tip of his quill thoughtfully.<p>

"Why don't you just check the text?" Remus glanced over the top of the book he was reading. "That's what it's there for."

"Well, why would I do that when your brain is so convenient?" James smirked, and Remus rolled his eyes.

"Guys, I really don't get this," Peter said anxiously, leafing through his notes. He said this almost every school night, and the other boys had all but given up on helping him out with homework.

"Relax, Wormtail," Sirius leaned back on his chair, deciding he was done for the night. He waved his wand lazily at his inkwell, and globules of ink came out of it, shooting up and suspending in midair. "What we do right now isn't going to matter in the real wizarding world. The teachers all just want to scare us with homework right now for no reason."

"It's not for no reason," Remus insisted, closing his book with a frown at Sirius. "NEWTS are very important! How well we do right now is going to affect our future careers!"

"Well, what if my future career involves being a world-famous Quidditch player?" James grinned, miming snatching the Snitch from midair. Peter laughed delightedly.

"Then by all means, go ahead and fail all your classes," Remus rolled his eyes, reopening his book and disappearing behind it once again.

The four boys fell into silence after that: James had reluctantly turned to focus on his essay, and Peter continued to struggle with his jumbled notes. Sirius, who was tired of doing homework, continued to idly wave his wand at the flying ink, creating cool shapes and patterns in the air. He looked around the common room as he did, noticing his fellow classmates working on their own homework. Bradley Trent and Frank Longbottom were comparing notes at a table by the fireplace, Dorcas Meadows and Lily were practicing Conjuring Charms together near the portrait hole, and Emmeline was sitting alone near a window, writing an essay while muttering quietly to herself.

Sirius's eyes lingered on Emmeline. He saw how she did her work diligently, scribbling down words quickly and without interruption. She absentmindedly twirled a piece of light blonde hair in her finger as she worked, her lips moving to words Sirius couldn't hear. At first he thought she was muttering to herself because she was concentrating so hard, but after looking at her for a minute, he realized from the way her eyebrows were raised and the way her lips elongated certain words, that she was actually singing quietly to herself.

_Wait… singing?_

Curious, Sirius stood up, the ink he was playing with immediately dropping down and disappearing back into the bottle.

"Where are you going?" Remus glanced up at Sirius, frowning slightly.

Sirius shrugged. "Just going to find something to help me concentrate." He turned and strode away, waving his arm idly behind him. "Don't wait up."

Sirius pretended to walk toward the boys dormitory, but veered slightly to the right, towards where he saw Emmeline working by herself. When he was several feet away from her, and within earshot of her singing, he stopped and listened:

_…Hey, I don't know,  
><em>_Oh, tell me where to begin  
><em>_'Cause I never ever felt so much…_

Her voice was a sweet and tinkling soprano, and she was hitting notes with a slow and beautiful musical sound. Sirius was instantly intrigued, and he couldn't bring himself to interrupt her at first so he could keep listening to her lovely voice:

…_It's got what it takes  
>So tell me why can't this be love?<br>Straight from my heart  
>Oh, tell me why can't this be love?<em>

Emmeline sang softly down to her homework, ending the last line with a light vibrato. Her voice was clearly well-practiced in music, Sirius could definitely tell.

"I know you're there."

Emmeline finally glanced up from her essay, looking at Sirius with a glint in her eye. Sirius knew her well enough to know she wasn't upset by his interruption, however, and he grinned at her easily.

"By all means, don't stop. Not for my sake at least," Sirius moved over and sat down in the empty chair beside her. "That was quite good."

"Thanks," Emmeline smiled widely at him. "That song is one of my favorites. It's by this Muggle musical group… Van Halen, I think they're called."

"'Van Halen'? Sounds girly," Sirius made a face, and Emmeline giggled. There was a short pause, and Sirius considered her for a moment. "So do you always sing to your homework, or is tonight just a special occasion?"

Emmeline blushed. "Usually when I'm doing homework I'll start humming to myself. It's a bad habit, I know, but sometimes I can't help it. I'll have a song stuck in my head and I can't get it out until I sing it aloud."

"Makes sense," Sirius smirked, and Emmeline rolled her eyes, grinning.

"It does, actually! But it also helps me concentrate," she indicated her unfinished essay. "So homework nights are when I usually sing…" She smiled to herself, a look of happiness spreading across her face. "I really love music. I want to work with it in some way after Hogwarts."

Sirius looked at her, at the happy smile that lit up her face, and knew she was someone who had a real passion, like James had with Quidditch. Sirius couldn't help but feel a little envious: why couldn't he feel the same passion about his own future?

"Really?" Sirius smiled lightly at her. "What exactly did you want to do with music?"

"Oh, I don't know," Emmeline shrugged, still smiling. "Maybe teach it to children or something. I haven't decided yet – but I s'pose I'm practicing now with my homework for whatever it'll be."

Sirius grinned at her. "Maybe _I_ should try singing a romantic ballad to my Potions book too. Couldn't go amiss, could it?"

Emmeline laughed, her sweet voice ringing like one of the musical notes she had just sung. Sirius smiled, enjoying the sound.

"I guess you could always ask it out on a date afterwards," she giggled out after a few seconds, wiping away tears of mirth.

It was Sirius's turn to laugh now. "Dating a book? That's _way_ too much commitment. Do you know how high-maintenance they are?"

That made Emmeline laugh all over again, and the two spent several happy moments just joking around and cracking each other up. It was a good feeling, Sirius realized, just sitting here and hanging out with Emmeline. Their homework was completely forgotten.

"…So besides your textbook, how have things been going with you?" Emmeline asked, her smile still in place. "You know, with Isabel?"

Sirius hesitated a moment. He had ended things with Isabel a week ago, and had actually begun seeing some Gryffindor fifth-year girl named Alex. "Erm… Isabel and I broke up, actually."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that." She actually looked it, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sirius brushed her concern aside. "It happens. And it was mutual, so it was no big deal."

Emmeline pressed her lips together, and nodded. She still looked concerned, and Sirius sort of wanted to change the subject.

"So… how are you and your boyfriend?" he asked, because he couldn't really think of anything else to say.

Emmeline blinked. "Oh, Reggie? We're pretty good," she nodded, then smiled slightly. "After two years, we can pretty much finish each other's sentences."

This caught Sirius's attention: "_Two years_? You've been with this one bloke for two whole years?"

Emmeline giggled at his astonishment. "Two years and three months, actually."

Sirius shook his head. "Bloody hell. I couldn't imagine being with one person for that long!"

He spoke without thinking, and a moment later almost wished he hadn't said anything. Emmeline smiled warmly, however, and shook her head.

"Well, it's not been easy, that's for sure. We've had our ups and downs, but in the end it's all worth it – when you really love someone, you're willing to make the relationship work. For their sake, at least."

There was a short silence after Emmeline spoke. Sirius thought about what she just said, and felt that horribly familiar clench in the pit of his stomach – that feeling of total and complete failure. He looked down.

"Wish I knew what you were talking about," he smiled humorlessly. "My relationships couldn't hold a candle to yours."

Emmeline suddenly looked horrified. "Oh Sirius, I'm so sorry! I – I wasn't trying to make you feel bad or anything…!" She reached over and placed her hand on his.

"Oh, no it's okay," Sirius shook his head, smiling at her. He was aware of how warm her hand was on his. "Honestly, it's not a big deal."

"It is, though," Emmeline said, still frowning. She removed her hand, and Sirius's skin felt a little cold. "'If you're that concerned about it. You've really never been in love?"

Sirius's smiled dropped and he gazed down at his feet. He spoke quietly after a moment: "No, I s'pose I haven't."

There was another silence, and Sirius really wished Emmeline wasn't looking so desperately sorry for him.

"I wouldn't worry about it, Sirius," she said after a moment, and he looked up at her. "Lots of people our age never fall in love."

"Says the girl who's basically an expert in it," Sirius said wryly.

"It's true though!" Emmeline insisted. "I'm lucky to have been able to find Reggie – lots of people our age don't get to experience what love truly is until they're much older."

Sirius chewed on his bottom lip, thinking. "I dunno, I guess… I always thought love would be easy," he shrugged. "When I found the right girl, at least."

"When it's love, it is easy," Emmeline said wisely. "Love comes naturally to all of us. Pursuing the actual relationship is what's difficult."

Sirius looked at Emmeline, and she smiled lightly at him. Sirius felt the knot in his stomach lessen slightly.

"Guess I know what to avoid then," Sirius grinned, only half-joking. Emmeline smiled sadly at him, but said nothing. Sirius looked back at her, but soon had to look away.

"Like I said before," Emmeline spoke up eventually. Sirius moved his eyes up to hers again, and saw she gazed back at him with those big blue eyes. "When it's true love, you're willing to work through the difficult parts."

Sirius stared at her for a second before glancing away. "Yeah…"

_Love comes naturally to all of us_. He thought of Emmeline's words, and even hours later, they gave him a faint feeling of hope. Maybe she had a point – maybe love was something he could experience one day. Maybe he would soon know what it felt like.

Maybe, just maybe, true love was closer than he thought.

* * *

><p><strong>Thursday<strong>

**October 14****th**

**8:00 pm**

**Ravenclaw common room**

"…And the merman says to her 'Your _fins_? But I thought it was your _scales_!"

The large group of Ravenclaw seventh-years who were listening all burst out laughing at Reggie's joke, throwing their heads back and slapping their legs.

"Oh my God – that was _hilarious_!" Justin Grenowitz gripped his stomach, he was laughing so hard.

A blonde girl sitting next to Reggie named Samantha Pedderton clutched onto his arm, giggling madly. "You should _totally_ be a comedian, Reg!"

Reggie grinned widely, feeling flushed with happiness. Never in his life did he think he would be this popular – not only had he had a massive growth spurt over the summer, but he had won the big Quidditch match for Ravenclaw a few weeks ago, so more and more people began to take notice of him. Soon he had accumulated a large group of friends who followed him around, let him copy their homework, laughed at his jokes, and pretty much thought he was coolest guy at Hogwarts.

"Hey, Reg – we were all going to crash Sebastian Nott's Halloween party tomorrow night. It's supposed to be 'Slytherins only'. You in?" Ed Lassiter held out his hand for Reggie to slap while the others around them chorused their approval.

"Yeah, c'mon Reg – it'll be hilarious!"

"You should totally come!"

"Aw, sounds cool guys," Reggie grinned apologetically, slapping Ed's extended hand. "But my girlfriend and I are doing something."

A collective groan filled the air, and Ed looked heartily disappointed.

"You're blowing us off for Emmeline Vance? Seriously?" he shook his head at Reggie. "She never lets you have any fun!"

"Yeah!" a few others piped up indignantly.

Reggie grinned at all of them, giving a little awkward laugh. "She's my girlfriend," he shrugged, as if asking what else he was supposed to do.

"Just between us, mate," Ed moved over and sat on the couch beside Reggie, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "You're holding yourself back with Emmeline! Seriously: you could have _any_ girl you want – why only go with her?" Ed gave his shoulders a shake. "You're Reggie Cartwell, Quidditch superstar!"

The others, who were listening, all whooped and cheered at the word Quidditch. Reggie stared at Ed for a moment before glancing away, thinking about what he said.

"Any girl I want…" he muttered, but only to himself.

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><p><strong>Ooh, intrigue! Hope you liked this chapter:) Please leave a review if you did!<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

**iceandfire 105: **Thanks for your review… as always:) Lol here's the next chapter for you!

**Sunday**

**October 31****st**

**10:05 am**

**Entrance Hall**

* * *

><p>"I'm actually kind of excited for today," Emmeline smiled widely, bouncing on the balls of her feet in anticipation. She, Reggie, Marlene, and Amal stood in line together, waiting to be cleared to head out to Hogsmeade for their double date.<p>

"That's the spirit, Em!" Amal laughed, holding hands with Marlene. "Where do you think we should go first?"

"I dunno," Emmeline looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to Reggie. "What do you think?"

Reggie didn't answer at first – he was gazing out the front doors toward the grounds. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets, and Emmeline frowned at him.

"Reggie?"

"Hm?" He finally looked around at her, blinking. "Oh, sorry… I don't care. You guys can pick."

"Well, I need to stop by Honeydukes," Marlene said immediately. "And then after that we can stop by the Three Broomsticks for something to drink. And Amal, I know you said you wanted to see that haunted shack up on the hill later…"

"It's not _actually_ haunted," Amal rolled his eyes. "That's just what my friend Mark said 'cause he heard shrieking from it a couple years ago. But I still think it would be interesting to check out."

"Definitely," Emmeline smiled, trying to ignore how hurt she was by Reggie's cold shoulder. They had finally reached the front of the line, and after being marked off the teacher's list, they were free to walk across the grounds together towards Hogsmeade. Amal breathed in the fresh October air and grinned widely.

"First Hogsmeade trip of the year. Always a good one," he sighed happily, swinging his and Marlene's hands between them. Marlene giggled.

"Nice not doing homework for a change," Emmeline noted, and the others chorused their agreement.

"You can say that again," Amal said emphatically. "Do you know how many essays I've had to write this month alone? Twelve, at least!"

"It's been so hard," Marlene shook her head. "I can't believe how much homework the professors are giving us!"

"Just wait till seventh year," Reggie said grimly. "It gets worse."

"I'd like to believe that," Amal said with a derisive smile. Reggie's eyes flashed.

"Oh yeah? Try writing five essays a _week_. And memorizing ancient runes, and perfecting nonverbal incantations, and reading advanced spellbooks, and getting constantly reminded about our impending NEWTS, _and_ balancing all of that with Quidditch practice five nights a week…!"

His voice had risen angrily when he spoke, and his hands balled into fists. The others stared at him, and after a short silence Amal gave a nervous chuckle.

"Sorry, mate," he said. "Don't worry, I believe you."

Emmeline took Reggie's hand in her own, and luckily that seemed to calm him down a bit. His shoulders relaxed and his frown disappeared, but his face still looked a bit troubled. He was squeezing Emmeline's hand rather tightly as they finally walked onto High Street.

Marlene and Amal walked slightly ahead of the other two, looking around and pointing at all the different buildings, chatting happily. Emmeline and Reggie were mostly silent as they walked together.

"I'm sorry," Reggie said suddenly, and Emmeline looked up at him. He was gazing down at his feet while his dark hair fell over his eyes. "I don't know why I snapped at you guys."

"It's okay," Emmeline squeezed his hand, smiling up at him understandingly. "If you feel like you're under too much stress, you can always come and talk to me about it. You know that, right?"

Reggie didn't answer. The expression on his face was of something Emmeline couldn't place, and after a moment he slipped his hand out of hers, shoving it back into his pocket.

"C'mon," he mumbled finally, and without looking at her, set off after Marlene and Amal. Emmeline watched him walk away, feeling sad and a little rejected. This was not the first time Reggie had acted this way toward her, and it seemed to have happened more and more within the past couple weeks. Emmeline was afraid she was losing him, but tried desperately not to let those dark thoughts into her mind.

_We'll get through this_, she found herself thinking. _We always do_.

She found herself almost hoping it.

* * *

><p><strong>Sunday<strong>

**October 31****st**

**11:34 am**

**The Three Broomsticks**

"Ace of spades – we win again!"

The group of students standing around all burst into applause, cheering wildly as Sirius and James gathered their winnings from across the scrubbed wooden table: a large pile of Sickles and Galleons along with several rare Wizard cards. Kurt Avery and Geoffrey Goyle, whom Sirius and James had just beaten at a high-stakes game of Exploding Snap, were looking rather mutinous. Goyle cracked his knuckles threateningly.

"You cheated," Avery snarled at Sirius, who grinned coolly back. "No one is that lucky."

"Apparently we are," Sirius retorted, flipping a Sickle with his fingers and catching it. Several people laughed.

"Or you're just really unlucky," James said, and Sirius guffawed.

Avery got to his feet, looking about ready to kill. He leaned forward, pressing his hands down on the table while glaring at the other two. "You cheated, and we're going to prove it. We're going to get our money back if it's the last thing we do!"

"We're so scared," Sirius rolled his eyes as Avery and Goyle turned and stormed off. Sirius looked over at James. "Care for another drink, mate?"

"I think we can manage another butterbeer," James smirked, jangling the money bag that contained their winnings. Sirius grinned, and the two of them moved over to the bar to get refills on their drinks.

At that moment, the door to the Three Broomsticks opened, and Sirius looked around: Emmeline had walked in along with Marlene, Reggie, and Amal. Emmeline said something to the other three before moving over towards the bar, supposedly to get their drinks. Sirius smiled and waved at her, and she waved back, moving over to them at the bar.

"Hey guys," she said as she approached. "What's up?"

"Just winning a ton of gold off some dumb Slytherins. You?" James shook the money bag again, grinning, and Emmeline rolled her eyes.

"That gold wouldn't happen to be Avery's and Goyle's, would it?" she asked. "We passed them at the door, and they didn't look too happy."

_Neither do you_, Sirius wanted to say, but refrained himself. Although he couldn't help but notice Emmeline wasn't acting her usual happy, smiling self – the sparkle in her eyes was gone, and her demeanor was a bit more sullen and reserved. Sirius wondered if something was wrong.

"Whatever, not our problem," James shrugged cockily. "They shouldn't be such sore losers. I'm going to go find Moony and Wormtail," he said suddenly. "Tell 'em what we won. See you guys later."

James walked off. Emmeline looked at Sirius.

"He's going to look for Lily," Sirius clarified, and Emmeline nodded.

"Yeah, I figured as much."

The two of them descended into a slightly awkward silence. Sirius really wanted to ask her the question that was pressing on his mind. "So… how are you doing?"

Emmeline pressed her lips together before shrugging her shoulders. "Alright, I s'pose. Today's just been a bit different from what I was expecting."

Sirius frowned as Emmeline glanced over at her friends. Sirius looked over too, and noticed that Marlene and Amal were sitting together at a table near a window while Reggie had broken away from the group: he was standing around and chatting happily with a bunch of his seventh-year Ravenclaw friends who happened to be there. Sirius saw that Emmeline looked a bit sad as her eyes landed on Reggie.

"Hey, it's okay," Sirius tried to sound cajoling. He really didn't like seeing Emmeline like this – it wasn't like her at all. "James and I can buy your guys' drinks for you if you want. Our treat."

This earned a smile from Emmeline, and she even managed a small giggle as she glanced back at Sirius. "That's very kind of you, Sirius. But I don't think drinks bought with gambled money will fix anyth – "

She stopped speaking mid-sentence. Her smile dropped, and her eyes widened as she noticed something coming right behind Sirius.

"Sirius, look!" she whispered urgently.

Sirius whipped around, and his stomach dropped – Avery and Goyle had walked back into the Three Broomsticks, accompanied by half a dozen other Slytherin cronies. They were all angrily gazing around the bar, clearly searching for James and Sirius.

"Uh-oh," Sirius turned back to Emmeline, quickly grabbing her hand. "C'mon – run!"

"What?!" Emmeline yelped, but Sirius had already ducked down and began pulling her toward the back of the bar, toward the door that led to the back alley. Emmeline ducked down too, although she wasn't exactly sure why.

Sirius grasped the back-door handle before glancing over his shoulder. "Through here. Hurry!"

"Wait, what? Why am _I_ running away from them – ?" Emmeline began heatedly, but Sirius silenced her by pushing her through the door first. He hurried after her and slammed the door behind them.

"C'mon," he urged, turning and grabbing her hand again, pulling her down the alley toward High Street. Emmeline didn't know what else to do but be dragged along, glancing nervously around to ensure the Slytherins weren't following. Just as she looked, however, she saw the back door banging open, and Avery and his gang flooding the alley behind the Three Broomsticks.

"Over there!" one of them pointed at her and Sirius.

"Hurry!" Emmeline yelled, and the two of them bolted down the road, toward the far end of town. Sirius urged them to the left, and they both veered toward a small road Emmeline had never been before. It wended its way through a small copse of trees, going uphill at a slight incline. Sirius and Emmeline were out of breath by the time they reached the crest of the hill. They both stopped, panting heavily.

"Did they follow us?" Emmeline asked when she finally caught her breath. Sirius was hunched over, still breathing heavily, but smiling all the same.

"Don't think so," he finally straightened up, and flashed her a cocky grin. "So how does feel – running away from danger with a wanted criminal?"

Emmeline shot him a look that was half-annoyed, half-amused. "Very funny. I had no choice but to come along! Not to mention they were going to kill you..."

"Eh, we could have taken them, easy," Sirius shrugged nonchalantly, "But I knew they wouldn't think to look over here – so I saw an opportunity. And I thought you could benefit from it," he added, smirking at her.

Emmeline didn't answer: she was looking down the road they had just run, and finally noticed the small shack sitting alone at the bottom of the hill. It looked pretty downtrodden and sad, but Emmeline had just figured what it was. Sirius followed her gaze, and his smile faded.

"Have you ever been here before?" he asked her, suddenly more serious. The two walked down to the fence and stopped.

"I've heard rumors... it's the Shrieking Shack, isn't it?" Emmeline said, gazing up at it. The shutter on one of the windows hung at an angle, and several of the tiles on the roof were missing.

"Yeah…" Sirius said, and hesitated, glancing up at it. "So... do you believe it's really haunted?"

Emmeline gazed at the shack thoughtfully. "No." she said after a moment.

Sirius frowned at her, surprised by her answer. "Really?"

Emmeline nodded, still gazing at the shack. "Yeah, I mean… I know a lot of people think this place is scary and it should be avoided, but…" she shrugged. "I dunno, up close, it doesn't look very frightening. It just looks a bit… sad."

She glanced over at Sirius, and was surprised to see that he was smiling at her. He suddenly reached out and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side. Emmeline was even more surprised by this, and couldn't say anything at first.

"You're alright, Vance," Sirius said after a moment, squeezing her shoulders affectionately. He looked down at her, and she looked up at him. Her heart seemed to be caught in her throat, thumping fretfully as she gazed into his eyes.

"Thanks," she smiled gently at him. He grinned back, and her heart seemed to beat with something beyond just friendly companionship.

Perhaps it was just the bad day she had been having, or even the thrilling chase that had just occurred, but Emmeline managed to forget all about her friends and boyfriend back at the Three Broomsticks, if only for a few moments. And for the first time in her life, Emmeline began to really understand why all the ladies of Hogwarts were so taken by Sirius Black.

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><p><strong>Hope you enjoyed this one! I really appreciate reviews, so if you could leave one it would very much make my day:)<strong>

**Thanks**!


	9. Chapter 9

**iceandfire 105: **You might just be right about that;) Thank you again for the review – here's the next chapter!

**Tuesday**

**November 9****th**

**2:33 pm**

**Library**

* * *

><p>Emmeline didn't know what to do.<p>

This sort of confusion wasn't something she was used to experiencing. What she felt, she realized, was almost completely foreign to her, and she had no idea how to act now because of it. She was vividly reminded of back when she and Reggie had first met: it was before the start of term of her fourth year, and the Hogwarts Express was once again short for space. Emmeline and her friends were forced to share a compartment with some fifth-year Ravenclaw boys, among them Reggie Cartwell. Reggie had smiled at Emmeline in such a way that had made her heart flutter, and the two had spent most of the journey talking only with each other. Emmeline knew right away that Reggie was different from any other guy she had ever met, and her emotions were in a state of chaos and confusion all day. When they had finally reached Hogsmeade station, and they were waiting for the carriages to pull up, Reggie had turned to Emmeline and asked her nervously if maybe she wanted to hang out with him again. Emmeline could hardly believe he wanted to spend more time with her, and she accepted his offer, blushing furiously, but extremely hopeful at the same time.

Emmeline found herself once again feeling that same heart-fluttering, tumultuous, head-reeling infatuation – but it wasn't for Reggie this time. Now that feeling came only when she thought about Sirius.

This embarrassing realization came suddenly and without warning, when she and Sirius were standing together outside the Shrieking Shack: Sirius was being nice to her, when she was in need of a little kindness, and her feelings began to develop rapidly because of that. The two eventually walked back toward High Street together, talking in a friendly way, but Emmeline could hardly look Sirius in the eye, her feelings were in such turmoil. Sirius was supposed to be her friend, like Remus and Amal were, while Reggie was supposed to be her boyfriend, whom she loved and cherished. There was no room for her to be having these feelings – as soon as she realized them, she tried to quell them. She rationalized that she had been having a bad day, what with her argument with Reggie, and that was why she had experienced misplaced affection toward Sirius. Surely these feelings would go away soon.

One week later, however, and Emmeline still found herself thinking about Sirius.

She couldn't help it: she would dwell on things about him she had always known but had never really thought about. Like the way he smiled when he was excited about something, or the way he pushed his hair away from his eyes. Or even the way he looked at Emmeline when he was talking to her…

"Hello, Emmeline? I'm talking to you!"

Sirius waved his hand in front of Emmeline's face, and she jumped, blushing slightly.

"Sorry," she said, shifting awkwardly in her seat. "My mind was on something else."

Sirius laughed, leaning back in his own chair. "That's okay. It's a free period, you can think about whatever you want!"

Emmeline smiled. It was true, their last class of the day, Care of Magical Creatures, was canceled due to the massive blizzard blowing around outside. The sixth year students were all herded into the library to work on homework, but what was supposed to be a quiet study session ended up being a rather rowdy group of teenagers talking and joking around excitedly. Madame Pince, after about fifteen minutes, gave up trying to restore order and left the library, looking like she was about to have a heart attack.

Sirius was in a great mood, however, and he lounged around at a table with Emmeline. Marlene and Remus, who were also in Care of Magical Creatures, were currently sitting in the corner trying fruitlessly to get their homework done, and Emmeline had briefly considered joining them. But Sirius seemed happy enough to just sit and hang out with Emmeline, which (she was embarrassed to admit) she would much rather do than schoolwork.

"Man, I needed this," Sirius stretched his arms luxuriously, kicking back and setting his feet up on the table. "I can't remember the last time we got a break like this!"

"It's only for a few hours," Emmeline said despondently, turning her quill around in her fingers. "We still have homework to do after dinner."

"You spoil everything," Sirius smiled lightly. "I say we should enjoy life's little moments as they come."

Emmeline smiled too. "Sound advice from the guy who got detention last week for sticking dung bombs in Slughorn's briefcase after Potions class."

"Allegedly," Sirius corrected, bringing his feet off down the table. "And if I did do it, it was only because he assigned us that second essay on _Mimbulus Mimbletonia_."

"He assigned it to _you_," Emmeline rolled her eyes. "The rest of us finished it the first time."

Sirius laughed, and Emmeline couldn't help but grin too. Her heart began to beat a little faster.

"Oh, you used to be so nice, Em," Sirius shook his head, smiling at her. "What happened to you?"

Emmeline playfully tossed a crumpled piece of parchment at him. "I guess because I hang out with people like you," she laughed.

Sirius swatted the parchment away, but his smile had faded, and Emmeline, who was concerned that she had said something wrong, went silent. Luckily, at that moment, someone walked up.

"Hey Emmy," Siobhan said, moving up to stand near Emmeline. "What's up?"

"Nothing. Just talking," Emmeline glanced over at Sirius, who smiled at her.

"What, with _him_?" Siobhan glanced at Sirius too, her lip curling disdainfully.

"Yeah, Em – what is wrong with you?" Sirius snapped at Emmeline, and she laughed

Siobhan narrowed her eyes at Sirius before turning to Emmeline. "C'mon Emmy, I need to talk to you," she tugged at her sleeve. "_Alone_." Siobhan glared over at Sirius.

Sirius nodded sagely, kicking back in his chair again. "Girl problems, eh? Don't let me keep you."

Siobhan dragged Emmeline away before she could respond. She walked her past several shelves and clumps of students before finding a secluded area far away from everyone in the Restricted Section. Siobhan finally turned around to face Emmeline: she was looking rather serious, and Emmeline wondered what was wrong.

"Look, Emmy – I'm your friend," Siobhan placed perfectly manicured hand over her heart. "And as your friend I feel obligated to tell you who I think you should and shouldn't be friends with."

Emmeline frowned, slightly affronted by that faulty logic. "Er… okay?"

"I want to be completely honest with you," she said sweetly, placing her hand on Emmeline's shoulder. "So I'm telling you now… I don't think you should hang out with Sirius Black anymore."

Emmeline blinked. She wasn't expecting her to say that, and wasn't really sure how to respond. After a moment, however, she couldn't help but give Siobhan a small incredulous grin. "What?"

"I know," Siobhan pressed her lips together in what she probably thought was a sympathetic expression. "It's difficult for you. But honestly, I think it's for the best."

"Why?" Emmeline couldn't help but ask. Could Siobhan have known about her secret feelings? "Sirius is my friend, so what's the big deal if I want to hang out with him sometimes?"

"Ugh, he's a _player_, Emmy," Siobhan huffed and rolled her eyes as if it should have been obvious. "Everybody knows his reputation with girls. What are people going to say when they see you two hanging out together all the time?"

Emmeline faltered. Could Siobhan have a point? "We're just friends," she said again, but with less conviction in her voice. Siobhan shook her head.

"I know you are. But others might not see it that way – especially since you have a boyfriend," she added. "Just think about it, won't you?"

Emmeline could only nod, and Siobhan smiled in a satisfied way before turning and walking away. Emmeline didn't move – she could do nothing but stand where she was, thinking over what Siobhan had just said.

Emmeline knew she and Sirius had been spending more and more time together within the last few weeks. But Sirius hung out with a lot of girls – mainly because he wanted to snog them or hook up with them or something. But Emmeline was just a friend to him. It certainly wasn't because he liked her in _that_ way. She would be an idiot to think she could be any different to him…

All of a sudden, her little crush on Sirius seemed completely ridiculous.

Maybe Siobhan was right – or partly so, at least. Emmeline enjoyed Sirius's friendship too much to completely let him go, but she was now resolved to nip her infatuation with him in the bud. She finally decided, after this past week of torment, to think no more about Sirius. No more dreaming about Sirius, no more fretting about her feelings for Sirius, and no more desperately shoving down any sort of romantic notions about Sirius.

Emmeline smiled to herself - she now felt a thousand times better about this whole situation. She finally had a grasp on her own feelings. Fancying Sirius Black was stupid, she knew, and there was absolutely no reason for her to get so worked up about him anymore.

Feeling lighter, Emmeline began to head back over to their table, determined to put on a normal, friendly face. But as she turned the corner and saw Sirius still sitting at the table, waiting for her, a strange empty sensation began to form in the pit of her stomach.

"Hey, Em," he said to her brightly, flipping a Sickle between his thumb and forefinger. "How'd your girl-talk go?"

Emmeline very much wanted to make a joke, like how they were doing before, but stopped herself. She knew being 'just friends' with Sirius was going to take a little practice. "It was fine," she said simply, setting herself down.

Sirius's grin faltered slightly. "That bad, huh?" he asked, smiling in an attempt at humor. Emmeline bit her lip, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable.

"Y'know, I think I'm going to go find Marlene," she said suddenly, getting to her feet. "Want to come?"

Sirius gave her an odd look. "Er… no, you go ahead," he said, and Emmeline nodded before packing away her things.

"See you later," Emmeline swung her bag over her shoulder and turned to leave. Sirius's eyes followed her as she walked away.

"See you," he said quietly, but only after she had gone.

* * *

><p><strong>Next time: Sirius POV! Hang tight, my lovely readers.<strong>

**Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Coronae Borealis**: Wait no longer! Here is the next chapter for you:)

**iceandfire 105**: Glad to hear you're still invested in the story! Lol well here's the next chapter for you:) Hope you like it!

**Wednesday**

**November 10****th**

**5:45 pm**

**Great Hall**

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><p>Sirius didn't know what to do.<p>

This was saying something, because Sirius flattered himself on always knowing what to do all the time. When he and James had found out about Remus's 'little problem' a few years ago, Sirius did not hesitate on figuring out what he thought they should do because of it. The result of his plan was that they had all opted to become Animagi, which definitely turned out to be one of the best parts of their lives at Hogwarts. Sirius would be lying if he said he wasn't proud of their achievement, and he took credit for being the guy within their group to always have a plan.

The same went for his dating life. When he noticed a pretty girl (and he noticed many here at Hogwarts), he would usually try to formulate some sort of plan in order to get to her. Whether his strategy was to talk to her friends, sit next to her in class, or charm her with his outstanding sense of humor, he would almost always find a way to succeed in his efforts. There was almost never any romantic feelings involved in these plans, at least on his part – the planning that went into these trysts was usually enough of a reward. Indeed, his initial interest in Siobhan Burke didn't have anything to do with his personal feelings for her, but rather because of her reputation for being an unpleasant cow. Sirius liked a challenge, and planning to obtain a girl as beautiful and as horrible as Siobhan seemed almost too perfect an opportunity to pass up.

But, of course, Emmeline Vance had to come along and screw it all up.

Sirius didn't think he had ever met anyone so maddeningly nice. When he had first found out about Emmeline, he was just happy he had found someone that would willingly help him follow through with his plan with Siobhan. The fact that she was so naïve and trusting was just an added bonus. But the more he talked to Emmeline and hung out around her, the more guilty he began to feel about being so manipulative. Emmeline was so sweet to everyone and everything, and pretty soon it became unthinkable for him to take advantage of that unbelievably kind nature. For the first time in his life, he actually began to feel bad about how he treated other girls – 'planning' for girlfriends suddenly seemed like a horrible notion. He ended up having to break up with his girlfriend Alex last week simply because of how bad he felt.

It was only then when he fully realized the extent of Emmeline's influence over him. She had somehow gotten into his head – but he would be lying if he said that he thought it was a bad thing.

Yeah, so he liked Emmeline. It took him a long time to finally figure it out, but once he did, there was no use denying his feelings. It was very strange at first, realizing that he liked her – he couldn't remember ever experiencing emotions for a girl that went beyond just physical attraction. While he had never considered Emmeline to be bad-looking (quite the opposite, in fact), he found that more than anything he just enjoyed being around her. He liked to talk to her and laugh with her about dumb things. He liked watching the way her eyes lit up when she smiled at him…

She had a boyfriend though. He had to keep reminding himself of that.

Sirius would forget himself sometimes (hey, he wasn't perfect), and he would try to flirt with Emmeline. Their canceled Care of Magical Creatures class the other day allowed him to be as charming to her as he could – and for a while his tactics seemed to work. But while he had initially seen that canceled class as an opportunity to spend more time with her, it ended up just being a harsh reminder for him to stop pursuing something he couldn't have:

"_You used to be so nice, Em. What happened to you?"_

"_I guess because I hang out with people like you."_

She was only joking around when she said that to him, but Sirius couldn't help dwelling on it. Maybe there was some truth to what she said – Sirius was hardly the nicest guy in the world, especially when it came to girls. While he liked to think Emmeline could change him for the better, he couldn't ignore the fact that he might just change her for the worse. That sweet, kind innocent girl he liked might one day be gone forever, all because of him…

So Sirius didn't know what to do, and his feelings remained in turmoil and confusion for days on end.

Sirius and James walked together from their last class (Muggle Studies) toward the Great Hall for dinner, and Sirius couldn't help but notice Emmeline was already sitting with Marlene and Amal at the other end of the Gryffindor table. He and James sat down several feet away from them – Emmeline and Sirius made eye contact, and he smiled at her. He was relieved when she smiled back.

"Wonder where Lily is," James said offhandedly as he pulled a platter of potatoes toward him.

"I heard she was looking for you," Sirius said, and James looked up at him, excited, before realizing he was just kidding.

"You shouldn't do that, mate," James slumped his shoulders, scowling. "That's not funny."

"It sort of is," Sirius chuckled, pouring himself a glass of pumpkin juice. James shook his head.

"If you'd ever liked a girl, you'd understand," he said stubbornly.

Sirius didn't say anything to that; however, he couldn't help but glance over at Emmeline for a brief second anyway. James noticed, unfortunately.

"What are you looking at?"

Sirius blinked and cleared his throat. "What's that? Oh, er… nothing."

James was giving his friend an odd look, and Sirius quickly changed the subject: "So… where are Moony and Wormtail? I thought they were going to meet us here."

"Oh. Apparently Wormtail's having trouble with Defense Against the Dark Arts again," James rolled his eyes. "He's studying in the common room with Moony right now, but I doubt it'll do any good."

"Does it ever?" Sirius laughed. "I'll bet you five Galleons Wormtail fails all of his NEWTS."

"You're on, Padfoot."

"That's a bit rude, betting against your own friend," Emmeline had suddenly walked up, sitting herself down across from them. Sirius could feel his heartbeat speeding up.

"He knows we're joking," James shrugged unconcernedly. "Besides, we've been helping him with homework for over five years now – there's a point when it all just gets a bit boring."

"I s'pose. But I'm sure he really appreciates all your help," Emmeline said reasonably. Sirius smiled slightly.

"Maybe you should be his teacher, Emmeline," Sirius said, and she laughed.

"Oh no, I'd hate to take your job away from you," she said sweetly, and James and Sirius both laughed.

"Emmeline!" Marlene called from down the table, and motioned to her friend.

"Oh yeah," Emmeline stood up, turning to Sirius. "Marlene and I are going to the library to work on that Transfiguration essay. Want to join us?"

James answered for both of them. "No thanks. You two have fun, though." Emmeline nodded and turned to leave with Marlene, smiling and waving at them as she walked away.

Sirius was feeling mildly annoyed with James. "Y'know, we could have joined her. We do need to work on that essay."

James seemed unconcerned. "Is that really the reason?"

Sirius looked at him, and James looked back, eyebrows raised. Before Sirius could say anything, however, Remus and Peter walked up.

"Hey guys. Sorry we took so long," Remus sat down next to Sirius. "What'd we miss?"

"Nothing much," James turned to Peter, who had sat down next to him. "How'd Defense Against the Dark Arts go?"

"Oh, really well!" Peter perked up. "I'll _definitely _be ready for tomorrow's class!"

Remus shared a glance with Sirius, silently letting him know how the study session actually went. Sirius snickered to himself.

The rest of the evening passed by with little incident. After dinner, the Marauders all headed back to the common room to play a game of gobstones together before turning in for the night. Sirius always felt better when he hung out with his friends, and this night had proven to be just what he needed. He had joked around with Remus, laughed at James' jokes, and playfully picked on Peter – they had gone to bed well past midnight, and Sirius soon fell asleep without any thoughts of Emmeline Vance weighing him down.

* * *

><p><strong>Thursday<strong>

**November 11****th**

**3:09 am**

**Boys Dormitory**

A couple hours later, Sirius woke up to noises coming from downstairs.

He didn't realize what had woken him up at first. He opened his eyes blearily, rubbing his right eye with the back of his hand and wondering vaguely why he was up. He rolled over, about to fall back asleep just as the sound came again: two people were arguing down in the common room. Sirius's sleepy brain could only just register both of the voices were female, and they both sounded pretty worried about something.

"…But what if something bad happened?"

"…we'll get in trouble…"

"…can't just leave this…"

Sirius was beginning to wake up a bit more, and he sat upright, yawning and stretching. Feeling mildly curious, he slid off his four-poster and padded quietly over to the doors. The other boys were still asleep, and Sirius tiptoed as quietly as he could out of the dormitory and down the stairs toward the common room.

Only a few steps from the bottom, and Sirius could recognize the voices of the two girls arguing: they were Marlene and Lily. Even more curious, he went down to the landing – he saw both of them clad in their pajamas and standing beside the fireplace, where the fire had died down to a low flicker. Neither of them had noticed Sirius as they continued to argue:

"What do you expect us to do?" Marlene demanded of Lily, who looked very upset.

"Well, I'd suggest keeping your voice down," Sirius said, and the girls whipped around at the sound of his voice. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"You stay out of this," Lily snapped at him, but Marlene held her hand out to silence her.

"No, it's okay..."

Marlene turned to face Sirius, and he could see up close how pale and worried she looked. He frowned, glancing between the two girls.

"What's going on?"

Marlene bit her lip, looking as if she were about to cry. "Emmeline's missing."

* * *

><p><strong>Cliffhangers are the best, aren't they?:) I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but in the meantime - review!<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

**Luise_Mau: **Wow, thanks for your wonderful review! I'm so glad that you're enjoying Emmeline's and Sirius's characters. I hope you enjoy this next chapter:)

**iceandfire 105: **Perhaps because I enjoy torturing you?;) Lol just kidding – but here it is! The next chapter for you! Hope you like it.

**Thursday**

**November 11****th**

**3:12 am **

**Gryffindor common room**

* * *

><p>Sirius felt as if the bottom of his stomach had disappeared. "What?"<p>

Marlene bit her lip, her eyes full of unshed tears. "Emmeline's gone. We can't find her anywhere."

"She and Marlene went to the library together after dinner, and Marlene left at eight o'clock," Lily explained to Sirius. "No one's seen Emmeline since then."

"She promised she'd be back by t-ten," Marlene began to cry. "She said she had some extra homework she wanted to d-do. I waited up for her, but she never c-came, so I woke up Lily and… and t-told her everything," she bent her head down, and Lily patted her shoulder consolingly.

"Have you tried looking for her?" Sirius asked. His legs felt like water, and he perched himself on a nearby armchair.

"We can't, it's way past curfew," Lily said. "We'd all get detentions."

"So we should just let our best friend stay missing?" Marlene snapped tearfully.

"Lily, you're a prefect – you could go looking for her without getting in trouble," Sirius stood up again, and Marlene suddenly looked hopeful. Lily shook her head, however.

"I'm not on duty tonight, so I'm not allowed. I'd get in trouble. Look, Marlene –" Lily turned to her friend. "Emmeline probably just fell asleep in the library or something. I'm sure she's fine. We should all go back to bed, and in a few hours, get up and tell a teacher if she's not back yet." She rubbed Marlene's back. "There's no reason to get so worked up. I'm sure everything will be fine."

Marlene didn't look convinced, however, as she turned her tear-stained face imploringly to Sirius. "Sirius – please."

Sirius looked back at Marlene, and they had an immediate understanding: he knew beyond a doubt that neither one of them was going to sit around and do nothing if Emmeline was missing. He turned back toward the boy's dormitory.

"Hold on," he said before hurrying up the stairs. A minute later he came back down, carrying James' Invisibility Cloak under his arm.

"Is that…?" Marlene's eyes widened as she stared at the Cloak. Sirius turned to Lily.

"I'm going to help Marlene go and find her. Is that alright with you?" Marlene beamed, looking immensely relieved.

"Well… I, er…" Lily stammered, taken aback. She looked extremely reluctant to consent to their rule-breaking, but after a moment she sighed, conceding. "I guess so. But if you guys aren't back here within two hours, I will have no choice but to tell Dumbledore what's going on. Assuming you don't get caught, that is."

"Fine," Marlene said hurriedly. "Let's go."

Without further ado, Sirius followed Marlene out of the portrait hole. Lily watched them leave, a worried expression on her face.

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><p>Once they were outside in the Fat Lady's corridor, Sirius handed Marlene the Cloak.<p>

"Here, you take it."

Marlene looked confused. "What? I thought we were going to look for her together."

"We only have a couple hours, and we can cover more of the castle if we split up," Sirius explained. "You can search the dungeons and the first three floors, and I can take the rest."

"Won't you be seen?" Marlene looked uncertain as she took the silken material from him. Sirius shook his head.

"I've snuck out at night loads of times. I don't need a Cloak to stay hidden," he said confidently. Marlene pressed her lips together, and nodded.

"Well, if you're sure…" she unfolded the Invisibility Cloak, which shimmered in the darkness. "Be careful, won't you?"

"Yeah, you too," Sirius turned to leave. "Meet back here in two hours?"

"Yeah – and Sirius?" she added, and he turned back toward her. Her wide eyes seemed to shine brightly in the gloom as she looked at him. "Thank you."

Sirius pressed his lips together. "It's Emmeline," he said simply. Marlene smiled, grateful that he understood what Lily couldn't.

"Yeah."

And with that, they went their separate ways – Sirius turned around and swept off toward the North Wing, while Marlene hurried off to the Grand Staircase, pulling the Cloak over her head as she went. In a matter of seconds, they were both gone.

~/~

Sirius ran for a few seconds before slowing down to a stop. He glanced over his surroundings, making sure no one was there, before transforming into a black dog. He knew he would have a much better chance at finding Emmeline if he were in his Animagus form – all of his senses were sharper, and he would be able to blend into the shadows better with his dark fur. Eyes bright and ears pricked, Sirius bent his head down and began to sniff along the ground, trying to pick up any trace of Emmeline he could find.

Sirius trotted through the North Wing and along the seventh-floor corridor; the stillness of the empty castle allowed his already keen senses to magnify everything tenfold. Occasionally he would pick up a faint scent of someone and follow it, but it always ended up being a teacher or a prefect on guard duty, and he had to quickly dart away before he was seen. He continued on with his search, trying to stay optimistic, but worry constantly weighing down on his heart.

~/~

After almost an hour of searching, Sirius was beginning to grow weary. He sniffedalong the corridor outside the Astronomy Towers without any expectation of finding anything, but when he had reached the south end, he suddenly stopped – his ears pricked up and his nose quivered.

Someone was up in the Astronomy Tower.

It might have just been another teacher, but Sirius was desperate at this point – he ran down the corridor and turned right, bounding up a flight of stairs. The steps began to spiral upward, and he continued to run, panting from the effort. Finally, he made it to the top landing – he leapt quietly up onto the parapet and looked around:

Sitting cross-legged atop one of the turrets, and silhouetted against the dim moonlight, was Emmeline, gazing pensively out into the clear night sky.

Her back was to Sirius, so she didn't immediately see him. However, in his joy at finally finding his quarry, a small yelp escaped him – Emmeline whipped her head around at the noise, and laid her eyes on the massive black dog that was Sirius.

"_What the_ –?!" she screeched, practically falling over from shock. She jumped to her feet and scrambled for her wand; Sirius winced, realizing a second too late he was still a dog.

"Stay back!" Emmeline pointed her wand at Sirius, her hand quivering and her eyes as round as saucers. Sirius, cursing himself, gave a small whimper before quickly transforming back into a human.

"Hey," he held his hands up to her, placating. "Hey – it's alright! It's only me."

Emmeline looked as if she had just received the shock of her life. She dropped her wand, blinking several times as she tried to register what had just happened. "…Sirius?" she whispered, as if afraid she was seeing things. She stepped back, touching a hand to the stone turret behind her.

"Yeah," Sirius took a tentative step toward her, hands still held up. "It's me."

Emmeline didn't say anything at first: she only stared at Sirius, her mind clearly trying to work out what had just happened. "How did you do that?" she finally asked faintly, giving him a bewildered once-over.

"Er…" Sirius slowly walked forward and picked up Emmeline's dropped wand. He straightened up and handed it back to her. "I'm an Animagus. I'm sorry if I scared you, but you weren't exactly supposed to see me… people don't really know yet…"

Emmeline said nothing. She only stared at Sirius, unable to form any words.

"Marlene's been worried sick," Sirius went on awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "She and I have been all over the castle looking for you. She'll be glad to know you're alive," he added, trying to sound cheerful. Emmeline still said nothing, and finally looked away from Sirius toward the door behind him. It was difficult to tell in the dark, but it almost looked as if she had been crying.

"…Is everything okay?" he asked after a moment, beginning to grow concerned. Emmeline glanced down at her hands before turning away.

"Tell Marlene I'm fine," she muttered, her back to Sirius. A cold wind began to blow from the north. "I just wanted to be out here for a bit."

Something was clearly wrong, but Sirius didn't want to push her too much for answers. He looked at Emmeline for a second before slowly walking up to stand next to her on the parapet. They were both silent as they gazed out toward the darkened grounds. "What happened?" he asked after a minute, his voice soft. He glanced over at her, noting how she leaned her head against the turret, tears now streaming down her face. She closed her eyes.

"Reggie broke up with me," she whispered after a moment. Sirius opened his mouth slightly, staring at her with surprise and concern.

"Oh my God…" he said after a moment, and he had a strong urge to comfort her. "Emmeline, I'm so sorry."

She pressed her lips together, looking miserable. "Yeah."

There was a short silence, where Emmeline stared out toward into the starry night with her lifeless gaze. Sirius looked at her, worried.

"It happened tonight?" he asked quietly. She closed her eyes again before nodding.

"In the library," she mumbled, opening her eyes again. "Right after Marlene left. He came up to me and he… he said…" Her eyes began to fill with tears again, and she gulped down a restrained sob. "He said he'd b-been… thinking things over … and… and he…" her shoulders began to shake. "He said he wanted t-to… to…"

She began to cry, unable to finish. Sirius, his heart breaking for her, moved over and pulled her into his arms. She pressed her face into the fabric of his shirt and sobbed unrestrainedly, wrapping her arms around his torso as she did so. Sirius had his arms wrapped around her heaving shoulders, with one hand resting on the back of her blonde head. For about a minute they stayed like that, and Emmeline, controlling herself, quieted her choked sobs before pulling away.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, hiccoughing. She didn't look up at him as she wiped her eyes. "I've been a mess all night."

"No," Sirius said quickly, putting his hand on her shoulder. "No, it's okay. You've a right to be upset."

"I should've seen it coming," she sniffled, and shook her head. "He'd been acting strange for so long – and I should've realized he… he was going to…"

She couldn't continue, and she looked down, closing her eyes. Sirius didn't know what to say, so he opted for silence, rubbing her shoulder and upper arm in a soothing motion. Neither one of them spoke for about a minute, and Sirius eventually removed his hand from her. The wind picked up again, the cold air ruffling their hair and stinging their skin, and Sirius shivered, glancing around.

"Have you been up here all night?" he eventually asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets for warmth. Emmeline sighed, turning and gazing out toward the grounds.

"Yeah," she walked over and leaned against the stone turret again, picking at her nails. "It's what I like to do when I'm upset."

"What – freeze to death?" Sirius asked, and was glad to see she smiled slightly at that.

"No," she gazed out toward the sky again and wiped her eyes. "I talk to my mum."

Sirius stared at her for a second, confused, before he realized what she meant. He felt as if the ground had been knocked out from under his feet – her mother. He had no idea… they had never talked about her before. Sirius suddenly felt like the biggest idiot in the world.

"Oh," he said after a moment. He didn't know what else to say.

"It's alright," Emmeline looked over at him. "I'm not sad about it or anything – it happened when I was just a baby. I don't really have any memories of her," She turned to look back up at the sky. "I just sometimes like to think she's still here with me."

"She is," Sirius said, and quickly added, "I mean – the people we love are always with us, even after death."

Emmeline smiled lightly. "That sounds like something Dumbledore would say."

Sirius couldn't help but grin too. "Yeah, I s'pose so. But that doesn't mean it's not true."

"Yeah," Emmeline smiled down at her hands. A comfortable silence stretched between them.

"So, are you…?" Sirius began awkwardly, and Emmeline looked up at him. "Are you… okay?"

Emmeline smiled before nodding slightly. "Yeah… I think I'll be fine. I didn't realize Marlene was still awake and looking for me - I came up here because I didn't want her to get upset. I promised myself that after tonight I would try to act as normally as possible so I wouldn't worry anyone too much."

Sirius chuckled. "I think it's a little too late for that."

Emmeline sniffled before smiling again. "Just a little."

Sirius laughed, and Emmeline did something that surprised them both: she moved forward and threw her arms around him in a tight embrace. Sirius was surprised, but hugged her back anyway. His heart began to beat a little faster.

"Thank you," she mumbled into his shoulder, and Sirius smiled.

"You're welcome."

Their embrace lingered for several seconds longer than what was probably intended, but Sirius wasn't complaining. He felt he could hold this girl in his arms forever and it would be enough.

"So…" Emmeline finally pulled away, looking up at Sirius with her large, teary eyes. She sniffled, and wiped her running nose. "You're an Animagus, then?"

Sirius couldn't help but laugh again. "Oh. Erm… yeah, I am," he shook his head. "Could you maybe not tell anyone, though?"

Emmeline grinned. "As long as you don't tell anyone I've been up all night on the Astronomy Tower talking to my dead mum."

Sirius nodded, "Deal."

Emmeline giggled, and Sirius was happy to see she was beginning to look like her old self again. Suddenly remembering, he checked his watch, and saw he only had about twenty minutes to get back to Gryffindor Tower before Lily tattled to Dumbledore.

"I need to head back soon," Sirius looked back up at Emmeline. "Do you want to come too, or would you rather stay up here a bit longer? I can explain to Marlene where you are…"

"No, I can come," Emmeline said immediately, wiping her eyes one last time. "I should be okay now. Also, it's getting pretty cold out here," she added, shivering. Sirius nodded before taking her hand and leading the way toward the exit.

~/~

They walked together through the dark castle, not saying anything for fear of a prefect or someone spotting them. However, Sirius didn't mind, knowing they had a lot more to talk about later, mostly regarding her break-up, his secret Animagus form, and perhaps even her mother. He hoped they could talk soon, but until then, he was just happy that, after this emotionally hectic night, she was back with him, safe and sound.

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><p><strong>Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I got this one out as fast as I could, so I hope you liked it! <strong>

**Reviews are love:)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Shelbylee824: **Wow, thank you so much – your review really made my day! I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far – my goal was to write a love story that wasn't as conventional as the other stories I often read on FF. And as for Reggie… I've known people like him too:( It's unfortunate, but what can you do? Anyway, hope you like this next chapter!

**Luise_Mau: **Thanks! I have some big plans for future chapters:) Hope you like this one!

**glazedwater: **Thanks for the review – hope you like this new chapter!

**iceandfire 105: **Yeah, I think I foreshadowed their break-up enough:) Lol but yeah I'm glad you liked that part at the end – I had fun writing it:) Here's the next chapter for you!

* * *

><p><strong>Monday<strong>

**November 15****th**

**5:56 pm**

**Gryffindor common room**

It had been four days since the events up on the Astronomy Tower had occurred, and Sirius had to admit: Emmeline was handling herself amazingly well. When they had met up with Marlene in the Fat Lady's corridor that night, and Marlene had embraced her while crying about how worried she'd been, Emmeline managed to properly reassure her that everything was fine. Even a few hours later, when everyone else woke up and heard about what had happened, Emmeline didn't object to their shocked queries. And after they had found out about Reggie, Emmeline contended pretty well with Marlene's and Lily's consoling hugs, Remus's pitying gaze, Peter's awkward apologies, James's tactless jokes, and Siobhan's angry ranting about how all boys are the same. Emmeline was able to handle everything with grace – Sirius figured she must have been annoyed by all their concern, but if she was, she didn't show it. Perhaps that night crying up on the Astronomy Tower was enough for her, and she didn't want to wallow in it.

Sirius didn't tell the others about what had transpired up on the tower. People like Marlene could have probably figured it out, but in any case, Sirius still said nothing. Emmeline had gone up the tower in order to hide her heartbreak from her friends, and Sirius wanted to respect that. He honestly admired Emmeline's fortitude after being dumped, especially by a guy as awful as Reggie, who had committed to Emmeline for over two years before just leaving her like last night's rubbish. Sirius glimpsed Reggie a couple times over the next few days, in the halls and during mealtimes, and each time he was surrounded by friends, all joking around and laughing cheerfully. Sirius had a strong urge to go up to him and punch him in the face.

Sirius had walked into the Great Hall after class on Monday to notice Reggie at the Ravenclaw table, goofing around and laughing loudly with a rowdy bunch of his mates. Sirius went to go sit down with James and the other Marauders at the Gryffindor table before seeing Emmeline walk into the Great Hall with Siobhan. Emmeline had only walked in a few steps before she too noticed Reggie, and stopped. She stared at him for a few seconds before muttering something to Siobhan and turning back around. She hurried out of the Great Hall while Siobhan simply went to go find her seat at the Gryffindor table, looking like her usual, uncaring self.

"Oh, come on, Evans! You know you want to try it," James said to Lily, passing her a bowl of some sort of fish stew.

"I'd rather _you_ tried it," Lily pushed it back, glaring sarcastically at him. "And then choked on it."

"Ooh, that hurts," James pretended to look wounded as Marlene and Amal laughed.

"Nice one, Lily!"

Sirius glanced around at the others, wondering if they had noticed Emmeline walking out – none of them had, and they continued to joke around while eating dinner. After thinking for a few seconds, Sirius got up from his seat:

"I forgot something in the library," he muttered, grabbing his bag. "Be right back." Without waiting for their response, he quickly turned and hurried out of the Great Hall after Emmeline.

She wasn't in the entrance hall – he figured she had gone up to the common room. He walked up the stairs and around the seventh floor before entering the Fat Lady's corridor. Hoping she was inside Gryffindor Tower, Sirius opened the portrait hole and went inside. He glanced around, and was immensely relieved to see Emmeline sitting beside the fireplace in one of the comfy armchairs; the common room was nearly empty as everyone was currently at dinner. He hesitated only a brief second before walking up to her.

"Hey," he said quietly, and she looked around at him.

"Oh, hey Sirius," she smiled brightly, but he could tell something was wrong by the look in her eyes. "What's up?"

"Nothing," he moved over and sat in the chair adjacent to her. "I saw you leaving, and I was just wondering if you were okay."

"Oh… yeah I'm fine," she said, and cleared her throat, "I mean, why wouldn't I be?"

"No reason," Sirius said quickly. "It's just that… I noticed Reggie at his table, and I just thought…"

He shrugged slightly, not really sure how to continue. Emmeline's face seemed to crumple a bit.

"Oh… yeah," she mumbled, biting her lip slightly. "I, er… saw him too."

"I could hit him for you," Sirius suggested, and Emmeline let out a small burst of laughter. "Or perhaps a black dog could give him a nice big bite on the leg? I have been looking for a new chew toy…"

"Stop," Emmeline giggled, her shoulders shaking from laughter, and she wiped her eyes. "Stop it, that's horrible…"

Sirius leaned back in his chair, smiling lightly. "Not as horrible as what he did to you! He doesn't deserve to be happy – and you definitely don't deserve to be miserable."

Emmeline's smile faded. "I'm not miserable," she said after a moment, although she didn't look very convinced.

"It's okay," Sirius said, and she looked at him. "You can be upset if you want – you don't have to hide it from me. I was up there on that Astronomy Tower with you, remember?"

Emmeline turned away from his gaze. She instead stared down at the floor beside her feet as tears welled up in her eyes. Her lip trembled slightly as she tried to gain control of herself.

"Two years," she finally muttered, her voice shaking. She gulped as a tear slipped down her cheek. "Two years, we were together – and now he just _laughs_…"

A couple more tears escaped her eyes, and she sniffed, unable to continue. Sirius got up from his seat and perched himself on the armrest of Emmeline's chair, placing his hand on her back consolingly. Emmeline wiped her eyes before looking up at him with a watery smile.

"I'm sorry," she said thickly, and sniffled. "I guess I have been pretty miserable these past few days. I've been trying to hide it, though, so Marlene and the others don't worry about me too much."

"You don't have to be sorry," Sirius said, moving his hand along her back. "What you're going through can't be easy, and you've been handling it incredibly well."

"Yeah right," Emmeline sniffled, shaking her head doubtfully.

"But you have!" Sirius insisted. "Do you know how many hours James has spent moping about Lily? You're like a bloody rock compared to him."

Emmeline couldn't help but giggle. "That's sweet, but I think our situations are a bit different."

"That's true. But still…" Sirius stood up and sat back down in his chair. "Heartbreak is heartbreak."

Emmeline looked at him for a moment before nodding sadly, "Yeah."

There was a short pause as Emmeline wiped away the rest of her tears. Sirius just looked at his hands, unsure of what else to say.

"You should be getting back," Emmeline said after a minute. There were no longer tears on her face, and she even managed a small smile as she looked at Sirius. "James and the others are probably wondering where you are."

"Let them wonder," Sirius shrugged. "I'm not leaving you by yourself."

Emmeline smiled. "Why are you being so nice to me?" she shook her head. "You don't have to stay here and make sure I'm alright."

"No," he agreed, "but I want to." Emmeline looked surprised, and Sirius just grinned at her. "I worry about you, Vance."

Emmeline blushed, a smile spreading across her face. "You do?"

"Yeah," Sirius shrugged, glancing down at his hands. "Well, I mean…" he looked up at her again with a small grin. "How do I know you're not going to run off in the middle of the night to the Astronomy Tower again?"

Emmeline laughed. "I guess that makes sense – I _am_ pretty volatile."

"Very," Sirius laughed. "We ought to put a tag on you or something."

They both laughed at that. "That would be a good idea, though," Emmeline said after a moment. "If one of us goes missing, or whatever, the rest of us could just track that person down with a magic spell or something…"

Sirius looked thoughtful. "Hm, that's actually not a bad idea," he said. At that moment, Gryffindor students began coming in through the portrait hole, dinner now being over with. Sirius saw James and the other guys come in, and he got to his feet.

"I'm going to meet up with the guys and do a some homework." He turned to Emmeline, "I'll talk to you later?"

"Sure. Thank you," Emmeline smiled at him. Sirius smiled back at her before turning to leave.

"And Sirius?"

He looked at her again. "Yeah?"

She grinned at him. "Please try not to bite off Reggie's leg."

Sirius shook his head before turning back around. "You never let me have any fun."

* * *

><p><strong>Monday<strong>

**November 15****th**

**8:16 pm**

**The Library**

"A map?"

Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus were all sitting at a table together in the library. Madam Pince was nearby, so Sirius had to whisper to them the idea he had after talking to Emmeline.

"Yeah – a map of Hogwarts," he explained, glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "A magical one, that showed where everyone is at all times. What do you think?"

Remus and James glanced at each other. "I dunno…"

"We already know this castle really well. Why would we need a map of it?" Peter frowned.

"But that's exactly it," Sirius said to him. "We know Hogwarts better than anyone – we know all the secret passages and hidden entryways and shortcuts. Think about it: how many maps of Hogwarts are there in existence? None!"

"He's got a point," Remus turned to James and Peter. "If we did decide to make a map, we'd be the first."

"But being able to show on the map where everyone is at all times," James frowned at Sirius. "How would we go about doing that?"

"We could look up how to do Tracking Charms, or make a Replicator Potion or something. Whatever it is, we could do it," Sirius looked emphatically at his friends. "Come on, you've all said that since we became Animagi, we haven't had another project to occupy our minds with. This map could be it!"

"What do you think?" Remus and Peter turned to look at James, who was looking at Sirius.

"Hm…" James said, considering the idea. After a moment, he grinned. "...I like it."

Sirius smiled widely at his best friend while Remus and Peter both nodded and smiled at each other.

"Let's put it to a vote," Sirius said confidently, raising his hand. "All in favor say 'aye'."

"Aye!" all the boys chorused together.

"Shh!" Madam Pince hissed from behind a bookshelf.

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><p><strong>Thank you so much to everyone who had reviewedfavorited/followed this story so far. You're the reason I write:)**


	13. Chapter 13

**glazedwater: **Thank you for the review! I agree, James and Lily are adorable:)

**iceandfire 105: **Thanks! Yeah I realized that the Marauders Map was probably the logical solution to finding Emmeline in the previous chapter, so I decided I would close up that little plot hole:) Lol anyway, enjoy this next chapter!

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><p><strong>Thursday<strong>

**November 22****nd**

**8:35 am**

**Great Hall**

"…You mean he forgot to add belladonna?" Amal asked, laughing over his bowl of porridge.

Marlene giggled, a piece of toast in hand. "Yeah, he just added the crocodile heart to his Galloping Potion without anything else! The stench was _foul_ – and Slughorn was standing right there."

Marlene and Amal both cracked up. Lily frowned at them both.

"That's not very nice, Marlene," she said while reaching over for the milk jug. "Peter was obviously humiliated by that whole ordeal. You shouldn't be so mean to him."

"But Galloping Potions are like second-year stuff," Marlene insisted. "And he chose it to present for his Potions Demonstration."

"Well, it wasn't like _your_ Polyjuice Potion was perfect," Lily countered. "Slughorn said that your lacewing flies were overcooked."

"Your lacewing flies were overcooked?!" Amal looked appalled. "Marlene, how could you?"

Marlene laughed, and even Lily managed a grin.

"No! I always knew my substandard potions would tear us apart!" Marlene wailed dramatically. Amal cracked up again, and the couple continued to goof around with each other for a few minutes afterward.

Lily, getting bored by their cutesy banter, finally decided to interject: "So Marlene, where's Emmeline? Wasn't she supposed to meet us down here?"

Marlene continued to giggle, wiping her eyes. "No – Emmeline doesn't like coming down to breakfast anymore. She's afraid of running into Reggie."

Amal looked surprised. "You mean she's still upset about their break-up?"

Lily turned to him, shocked. "It's only been two weeks! Of course she's still upset!"

"I'm not trying to be tactless or anything," Amal said quickly. "I just had the impression that she wasn't very upset about their break-up to begin with, that's all."

"For the first few days she wasn't," Lily nodded in agreement. "In fact, I'd almost say she looked _happy_…"

"She just didn't want us all to worry about her," Marlene said quickly. "She has a tendency to do that."

"So why is she so eager to avoid Reggie now?" Lily asked, and Marlene shrugged.

"Since about a week ago she's been talking to me more and more about how upset she is from being dumped. It's sort of weird… I don't know where it's all coming from."

"Remus told me he saw Sirius talking to her in the common room last week," Amal said, choosing a cereal. "He said it looked as if she had been crying about something, and Sirius was comforting her. Maybe it had something to do with Reggie?"

Lily and Marlene stared at Amal.

"_Sirius _was comforting her?" Marlene asked dubiously, and Amal nodded.

"Sirius _Black_?" Lily said, making sure she understood correctly. "The guy who chucks flobberworms at teachers in class?"

Amal nodded again, looking amused. "Yeah."

The two girls looked at each other. "I do _not _understand what Emmeline has over him," Marlene shook her head bemusedly.

"It's like he's a completely different person around her!" Lily agreed. "When he said he was going out to look for her that night she went missing, I almost couldn't believe it."

"It was a bit strange," Marlene nodded in agreement.

"Maybe Sirius likes Emmeline," Amal suggested. There was a short silence, where the girls just stared at him.

"Sirius doesn't _like_ girls," Lily said after a moment.

"Or rather, he only likes certain _parts_ of girls," Marlene clarified, and Lily giggled.

Amal shrugged. "That may be, but I've seen the look on his face when he's around Emmeline. It reminds me back when I first started noticing you," he grinned at Marlene, who smiled, rolling her eyes and blushing.

Lily frowned at Amal. "Wait – so you really think Sirius likes Emmeline?"

Amal shrugged again. "It would make sense. He's always hanging out with her, and it doesn't seem like he has an ulterior motive about it."

Lily and Marlene looked at each other. Their eyes seemed to communicate what they wanted to ask out loud: _What do you think?_

"Em knows better than to get involved with a guy like Sirius," Lily said quickly. "She's nice, but she's not stupid."

"But if he _does_ like her," Marlene still looked a bit worried. "There isn't much we can do about that, can we?"

"No," Lily sighed, looking troubled. "But like I said – Emmeline knows better than that. She _just_ broke up with Reggie, and I doubt she's willing to just jump into another relationship. And I'm sure Sirius'll hook up with another pretty girl and forget all about Emmeline," she added with certainty.

"Let's hope so," Marlene said, turning back to her meal.

Amal didn't say anything out of respect for Marlene's fierce overprotectiveness of Emmeline, but he honestly felt differently about the whole issue. If Sirius did like Emmeline (and Amal was quite sure that he did), why would that be such a terrible thing? While Amal wasn't exactly Sirius's biggest fan, the fact that Sirius was even remotely interested in a girl like Emmeline showed that he was at least beginning to grow up on an emotional level. And even Emmeline, who Amal actually did like, could benefit from being with a guy as fun and easygoing as Sirius.

Amal knew better than to say any of this out loud, however. Besides – what did he know? He was just the guy who had been in a healthy, happy relationship for over eight months…

* * *

><p><strong>Thursday<strong>

**November 22****nd**

**7:13 pm**

**Gryffindor common room**

"Hey."

Remus approached the table where James was working alone. Charts and calculations and cartography sketches littered the small work space – James was writing feverishly on a long piece of parchment, the heading of which spelled out in a coded message "The Marauder's Map."

"Hey, Moony," James barely glanced up from his work. "Did you find it?"

"Sort of," Remus plopped himself down in the chair opposite James, dropping his bag stuffed with library books at his feet. "There aren't any records of the original schematics of Hogwarts castle, as I had already told you, but there are actually a lot of history books regarding the building of the school. I figured one of them might be helpful."

"Yeah, definitely," James looked up at Remus with a grin. "Sorting through all of them might be a good job for you, eh?"

Remus rolled his eyes, smiling. "How generous of you."

"What can I say? I'm a giver," James turned back to his writing. The two boys fell silent for a bit as James continued to work on the map and Remus began sorting through all the books in his bag. He picked up one that looked promising, _The Four Houses: A Detailed History of Hogwarts' Origins_.

"So where are Padfoot and Wormtail?" Remus opened the large tome and began to read. "I thought they were going to help you tonight."

"Right now they're in the library researching spells or potions we can use on the project," James said. They had agreed to refer to the Marauder's Map as "the project" when discussing it in public. "They should be back pretty soon."

"Think they're gonna find anything?" Remus flipped the page.

"I guess we'll see," James said, suddenly glancing up and setting his quill down. Remus turned around to see Peter scurrying towards them from the portrait hole, carrying a large stack of parchment in his arms.

"We found some great stuff," Peter said excitedly, setting the stack down on the table on top of James' work. "Padfoot found the recipe for that potion used to make photographs move in a person's likeness, and he reckons we can tweak it a bit so we can use it for the people on our map."

"Great, but who said anything about a map?" James asked Peter coolly, flipping through the stack of parchment.

"Oh, er… _project_. Sorry," Peter stammered, going red.

"Where's Padfoot?" Remus asked, glancing around.

Peter looked over his shoulder, frowning. "He was right behind me…"

The three boys looked around the crowded common room, and after a few seconds Remus spotted him, standing on the other side of the room and talking to Emmeline.

"There he is," Remus pointed him out and the other two looked that way.

"He ditched us for Emmeline?" Peter frowned in confusion.

"He's just talking to her," Remus turned back to his book, but noticed the look on James' face. "What?"

James shook his head and turned back to his work. "Nothing… I just wonder about him, that's all."

"Why's that?" Peter asked, sitting down beside Remus.

"I dunno," James shook his head again. "It's just…" he hesitated, looking awkward. "He's a bit weird about Emmeline, isn't he?"

Remus nodded. "Yeah, I've noticed that too. I mean, he didn't even know who she was at the beginning of the year, and now he goes chasing after her when she goes missing in the middle of the night…"

"Right?" James looked relieved he wasn't the only one who noticed his odd behavior. "And just last week during dinner I caught him staring at her!"

Remus and Peter looked at each other. "Do you think, maybe…?" Remus began to ask, but James cut him off.

"No," he said firmly. "Padfoot doesn't like girls. Or at least in the conventional sense, he doesn't."

The three boys turned to look at Sirius again – he was cracking up over something Emmeline had said to him, and she was smiling widely.

"People change," Remus said fairly, turning back to James. "Em's a really nice girl – I can see why Padfoot would like her."

"But Emmeline had been with that guy Reggie for years," Peter noted. "Why would Padfoot try to go after a girl like her?"

"I dunno," Remus turned to look at James, a small smirk on his face. "But the heart wants what it wants – right, Prongs?"

James rolled his eyes, but otherwise ignored that remark. "Look, if Padfoot likes Emmeline, then there isn't really much we can do about it. But I'm telling you – Sirius isn't the type of guy who gets involved with girls like Emmeline."

"So you don't think Emmeline could change his mind?" Peter asked, and James stood up.

"People don't change," he said firmly, and with that he began to walk over to where Sirius and Emmeline were talking, clearly going to extract his best friend from his conversation to discuss their project.

"Well, he's never going to win Lily over with _that_ attitude," Remus muttered under his breath, and Peter laughed.

* * *

><p><strong>Sorry, but this was just a little interlude I felt like writing. I tried to upload it earlier, but FF was down for several hours and nobody could upload anything.<strong>

**I'll try to update as soon as I can - but in the meantime, review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**glazedwater: **Yes, he is pretty insightful:) lol enjoy this next chapter!

**Luise_Mau: **I know, I'm excited too! Hope you enjoy this next chapter:)

**iceandfire105: **Thanks! Yeah it was down for at least 9 hours, from what I heard. I wasn't at my computer enough to know for sure, but when I was finally ready to upload the next chapter, I was unpleasantly surprised. Hope this chapter comes out in good time though! Lol

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><p><strong>Monday<strong>

**December 3****rd**

**5:24 pm **

**Library**

Emmeline was getting used to skipping meals. Not that she was trying to starve herself or anything – she ate periodically between classes and in the common room when doing homework and stuff. It had just become a habit with her, and the fact that she didn't have to see Reggie anymore at mealtimes was an added bonus. While the pain of their breakup had faded significantly within the last three and a half weeks, she still found she was much happier when the prospect of seeing him again wasn't nagging at the back of her brain.

During meals, therefore, she would usually retire to the library, finding a strange sort of solace in all the books around her. Marlene never joined, for which Emmeline was grateful – she liked to be alone from time to time. Plus, the solitude allowed her to get through the mountain of homework that was constantly weighing her down.

She wandered her way through the shelves, searching for a book on magical sea creatures for her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. She thought she was alone in the library, but turning a corner, she noticed the Marauders all sitting together at a table some ways away, their heads together while working on a project. Remus glanced up when she passed by and grinned; she waved back at him with a smile before moving along.

The next shelf over was wizarding genealogy. While Emmeline knew she was supposed to be looking in the magical creatures section for a book, she couldn't help but take a little detour this way. She began to walk slowly down the genealogy aisle, inspecting the familiar rows of books detailing the bloodlines of all the different pureblood families.

She ran her fingers over the ancient bindings, gazing at them all with a hint of sadness in her eyes. Her years of research had brought up no results, but a small part of her still hoped to one day find something…

In the silence of the near-empty library, Emmeline could hear the Marauders talking several yards away behind the shelf. She caught snippets of a conversation:

"Brass scales?" Sirius's voice sounded confused.

"Er, yeah…" Remus said, sounding a bit odd. "To measure the, er, potion ingredients… we can't use mine 'cause I leant them to Marion Seville last week."

"Well, what about Wormtail's?"

"Oh… er… erm, mine are, er… broken," Peter stammered, sounding as odd as Remus.

"Okay…" Sirius said slowly, obviously picking up on his friends' weird behavior. "So what do we do then?"

Remus had lowered his voice enough so Emmeline couldn't pick up on what he was saying; however, she could faintly hear phrases like "over there" and "go ask." Emmeline, feeling like she was eavesdropping, tried to put her focus back on the books, but a few moments later there was the sound of footsteps approaching, and Sirius had suddenly appeared around the corner.

"Emmeline!" he grinned happily when he saw her, and he strode towards her. "Remus told me you were somewhere around here."

Emmeline smiled back, her heart thumping a little faster as she did. "Hey, yeah – what's up?"

"Not much. The guys and I need some brass scales for a potion we're brewing," Sirius rolled his eyes. "Apparently we don't have any to spare."

"Oh yeah?" Emmeline asked, biting back a smile. Sirius smirked at her.

"Yeah," he dropped his voice to a low whisper and glanced over his shoulder, grinning. "You know, my friends can be real bloody morons sometimes…"

Emmeline tried to suppress her giggles with little success, and Sirius snickered along with her.

"So you've come over to take my brass scales, then?" she grinned, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Sirius's smile faded, and he blinked at her.

"What's that? Oh, er yeah…" he suddenly looked a bit embarrassed. "Just for today. Er, if it's alright with you, of course…"

"What? Oh yeah – it's totally fine," Emmeline said, smiling self-consciously. Why did the atmosphere suddenly get weird?

"Great," he smiled crookedly at her, and he looked her in the eyes for a moment. "Erm… thanks Emmeline."

Emmeline blushed, "No problem."

They stood there awkwardly for a few moments before Emmeline finally said: "My, er, potions bag is upstairs, so…" she gestured meekly past him.

"Oh, right – of course," Sirius said quickly, stepping aside. She began to walk back down the aisle, and to her surprise, Sirius fell in step beside her.

He was heading up to Gryffindor Tower with her… that was a bit unexpected. Emmeline's heart couldn't help but thump a little faster with what she could only describe as delight.

She and Sirius walked together toward the exit. As they went, they heard Remus, James, and Peter all snickering about something back at their table.

"So this is where you go during mealtimes now?" Sirius asked conversationally once they were out of the library and walking down the corridor. "I feel like I only see you in class nowadays."

"Oh… yeah," Emmeline's cheeks went pink. "A lot of homework to do, you know…"

Sirius nodded with a wry smile, "I know the feeling."

Emmeline smiled slightly, but said nothing else. There was a short pause as they continued to walk along.

"So… you're writing an essay about pureblood families or something?" Sirius asked after moment, and Emmeline remembered he had found her in the wizarding genealogy section. She blushed.

"What? Oh, no…" she said quickly. "Actually –" she hesitated a brief moment before shaking her head resignedly. "No, it's stupid."

"What?" Sirius sounded curious, and Emmeline bit her lip.

"Well," she said, and paused a moment. Sirius wouldn't laugh at her…

"I was looking up my mum's family, actually."

Sirius stopped in his tracks. He stared at her, looking heartily surprised, and Emmeline felt a small twinge of embarrassment shoot through her chest. She stopped to look at him.

"Your mum?" Sirius asked, brow furrowed. Emmeline glanced down at her hands and nodded.

"Yeah, er... she was a Greengrass," she looked back up at him. "One of the old wizarding families? My dad told me right before I left for Hogwarts."

Sirius was still staring at her. He blinked. "Oh."

"I don't really know much about her family, though – a lot of them sort of died out or married into Muggle families…" Emmeline went on. She and Sirius resumed walking down the corridor. "My dad's a Muggle, so he didn't really know a whole lot about it. Just that her name was Greengrass."

"I see," Sirius muttered. He paused for a moment. "So you were trying to research more about her family in the library?"

Emmeline shook her head dubiously. "I'd been trying for over five years – there's hardly any information on the Greengrass family. Most of the genealogies I found here were on the Black family, actually…" She smirked slightly, thinking Sirius would find his famous ancestry amusing. To her surprise, however, she caught him scowling to himself.

"Oh, I… I'm sorry," she stammered apologetically, blushing once again. Why didn't she remember he was sensitive about his family name?

Sirius's face softened. "No, it's okay," he muttered, looking slightly embarrassed. "It's not your fault… I just wish I could do something about your mum."

Emmeline didn't say anything for a moment. "It's all in the past," she eventually said with a shrug. She then looked at him with a small grin: "Besides – the people we love are always with us, even after death. Right?"

That was what he had said to her the night on the Astronomy Tower. Sirius stared at her for a moment before smiling slowly; there was an expression in his eyes that Emmeline had never seen in him before, but it made her heart glow.

"Right," he said quietly, his smile still in place.

They had finally reached the Fat Lady's portrait, and they clambered through it into the Gryffindor common room. Emmeline then turned to Sirius.

"My stuff's upstairs –" she gestured toward the girl's dormitory. "Erm… I'll just be a minute."

"Okay," Sirius smiled at her, and Emmeline blushed slightly before smiling back at him. She turned and hurried away up the stairs.

Sirius glanced around – a few people were back from dinner already, and were milling around while chatting amongst themselves. He shoved his hands awkwardly in his pockets.

"You think you're so smooth, don't you?"

Sirius glanced to his left, and noticed Siobhan Burke sitting alone beside a window and staring at him. She stood up, her snooty expression firmly in place as she tried to glare him down. Sirius wasn't going to be intimidated, however.

"Sorry?" He said to her coolly. "Did you say something?"

Siobhan took a step toward him, almond-shaped eyes narrowing. "What are you doing with Emmy?"

Sirius frowned at her. "I think she prefers 'Emmeline'…and it's none of your business."

Siobhan placed her hands on her hips, tilting her chin so her features looked more attractively menacing. "You don't think I know your angle, Black?"

She took another step toward him, and Sirius didn't know how to respond, so he said nothing.

"Everybody at Hogwarts knows your reputation," she went on, looking strangely triumphant. She took another step toward him and stopped, her eyes boring into his. "You just use girls like Emmy to your own advantage before turning around and breaking their hearts."

She looked fiercely pleased with herself for figuring him out, and she quirked an eyebrow, daring him to disagree. Sirius maintained his casual expression, however.

"_Emmeline_ is a friend," he said, stressing her correct name. "And the girls I usually pursue aren't like her." _She's better_, he wanted to say, but stopped himself.

Siobhan stepped forward so that she and Sirius stood about a foot apart. They looked challengingly into each other's eyes. "Hm," she said after a moment, raising both eyebrows. "So she doesn't match well with the 'Great Sirius Black'?" she asked snootily.

Sirius frowned at her again, very aware of how close she was getting. Siobhan smirked at him with her perfect lips.

"…So who exactly could the right girl for you be, then?" she mused quietly, her eyes taunting him. Sirius stared back at her, gulping.

Someone behind him suddenly cleared their throat, and Sirius whipped around. Emmeline was standing there with her brass scales in hand, staring questioningly at the two of them. Sirius immediately took a step away from Siobhan, who had suddenly slipped away without a word.

"Oh… erm, thanks Em," Sirius walked up to Emmeline and took the scales she handed him. "So, er… I'll get these back to you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah. Sounds good," Emmeline nodded, still frowning in a slightly confused way. Sirius, cheeks burning, quickly turned toward the portrait hole and hurried back toward the library, thankful to be out of Emmeline's questioning gaze.

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><p><strong>Hope you liked this chapter guys! If you did, please review!<strong>

**PS: I seriously love writing for Siobhan - does that make me a terrible person too? ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

**glazedwater: **Well, I'm glad you think so:) Here's the next chapter for you!

**iceandfire 105: **Is she ever?:) Lol thanks again! Hope you like this next chapter!

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><p><strong>Friday<strong>

**December 14****th**

**8:07 pm **

Despite the fact that finals were fast approaching, and the Gryffindor sixth years were being given more homework than they ever thought possible, school seemed to be last thing on everyone's minds. Perhaps it was just fatigue due to their prolonged time spent writing essays and scribbling down notes and reading enough books to fill a moderately-sized library, but the students of Hogwarts seemed to be much more interested on their upcoming Christmas vacation, which was beginning in only seven days. Indeed, when the invitations to Slughorn's annual Christmas party were finally sent out, the focus of the students seemed to be less on their finals and more on how amazing the last, big Christmas party of the term was going to be.

Sirius, James, and Remus had all received their invites – Peter was the only one of the group who had never been in Slughorn's favor. He watched rather sulkily as the other boys excitedly discussed the party, which was set to happen that Friday, the day of their last exam.

"I'm going to do it – I'm going to ask Lily to go to the party with me," James said boldly as the four of them walked along the corridor toward Gryffindor Tower. Sirius and Remus shook their heads at one another.

"Even though I'm sure she'll say yes," Sirius rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure Lily's already going to the party, Prongs. She's, like, Slughorn's prize student."

James still looked resolute, however. "Well, _I'm _his other favorite," he insisted. "If we go together, we'll be like the King and Queen of Slughorn's fan club. We'll be a match made in heaven!"

"Yeah, 'King and Queen Slug'," Peter murmured under his breath. Sirius and Remus both burst out laughing, and James frowned at them.

"Well, I don't see you two looking for dates," James snapped. "Padfoot – who are you going to bring?"

Sirius's grin faded. One person came to mind, but he tried to ignore it. "I'm sure I'll find someone," he said, attempting to sound casual.

The others went quiet, which Sirius thought was odd. They had finally reached the Fat Lady's corridor, however, and his attention was diverted. "'Lemmiwinks'," he said the password once they reached the portrait, and she swung open to admit them.

The four of them had entered the common room when Marlene suddenly approached them, a rather determined expression on her face.

"Hi," she said, smiling briskly. She turned to look at Sirius. "Care for a game of wizard's chess, Sirius?"

Her manner was resolute – James, Remus, and Peter all looked at Sirius in confusion, clearly wondering what was going on. Sirius stared at Marlene for a second before glancing at his friends, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Erm… yeah, sure," he forced an easy grin on his face. "Lead the way, McKinnon."

Marlene gave him a tight-lipped smile before turning on her heel and heading over toward the other side of the room where the chessboard was set up. Sirius looked at his friends and shrugged.

"Er, we'll be in the dormitory," James frowned after Marlene, still looking puzzled. "Gonna work on the project a bit. See you later," And with that, he, Peter, and Remus had gone. Sirius turned in the other direction and followed Marlene to where she was waiting.

"So… looking for someone to beat you tonight?" Sirius plopped himself down in the chair opposite Marlene, smirking. He wasn't sure exactly why she had asked him to play, but at least it was something other than homework.

"No – just a little friendly competition," she said simply, smiling at him. She had given him white, so he moved first; they were silent for a several minutes as they played. Sirius was surprised to find she was actually quite skilled at wizard's chess.

"Going to Slughorn's Christmas party on Friday?" Marlene asked conversationally, taking one of his knights out with her bishop.

"Yep. You?" Sirius retaliated by taking her rook with his queen.

"Amal got the invite, so I'm going as his plus-one," Marlene's cheeks went a bit pink as she spoke. Sirius grinned at her.

"You're not part of the Slug Club? Bloody hell, McKinnon – how do you expect to move up in the world?"

"Without the help of teachers who play favorites, I s'pose," she retorted. She moved her bishop so it was dangerously close to his king. "Check."

Sirius, who had seen that move a mile away, quickly took out the bishop with his pawn. "Well, playing favorites is how the world works, Marlene. Slughorn's party is merely a celebration of that fact." He smirked at her, and she rolled her eyes.

"How enlightening," Marlene directed her knight across the board to take out his rook. She hesitated a second or two before asking him a question: "Are you planning on bringing anyone to the party?"

Sirius, who had been contemplating his next move, stopped to look at Marlene. She stared determinedly back at him, and he knew the person she was thinking of.

"I might be," he said, regarding her suspiciously. He moved his knight and it took out one of her pawns with a violent thrust. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," she said quickly, and she moved another one of her pawns, blocking his bishop. They were silent for several seconds as they continued to play, but Sirius knew this discussion was far from over.

"You know… I think Emmeline got an invitation to the party," Marlene finally said in a would-be-casual voice, taking out one of his pawns with her rook.

So this was why she asked him to play, Sirius thought – she just wanted to talk to him about Emmeline. He moved his queen a couple spaces forward, pressing his lips together. "Good for her."

"I doubt she's going to go, though," Marlene continued doggedly, moving her queen diagonally so it took out his other rook. It made a very dramatic show of being dead. "She hasn't anyone to go with. Also, we heard Reggie and the rest of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team are going to be there."

"Oh," Sirius muttered, and he couldn't help but feel a small twinge of disappointment at the idea that Emmeline wasn't coming. But why was Marlene even telling him all this?

"Is there a reason for all this information, Marlene?" Sirius asked brusquely. He moved his knight so it landed right next to her king. "Check."

Marlene bit her lip, and quickly took out Sirius's knight with one of her pawns. She didn't answer immediately as she watched the pawn savagely beat his knight into submission.

"I think you know," she said quietly, looking beadily up at him. Sirius felt as if his heart stopped in his throat, and he could do nothing but stare back at her. After a few seconds, however, he finally seemed to gain some control over some of his faculties. He forced a small grin.

"Know what?" he asked as casually as he could. He drew in a deep breath before quickly reaching forward and moving his queen back several spaces so it was out of range from her rook. "Your move."

Marlene looked at him for a moment before sighing, lowering her head in what Sirius believed to be exasperation. "Amal was right…" she mumbled, shaking her head. Sirius frowned, but before he could respond to that, she looked back up at him, her face set.

"Look Sirius," she said to him, staring firmly into his eyes. "I don't think you should ask Emmeline to the party."

Sirius stared back at her, shocked by her bluntness. There was a brief moment where he could do nothing but just look at her, blinking, before a surge of indignation suddenly welled up in his chest:

"Who said I was going to ask her to anything?" he snapped, feeling suddenly defensive. "And don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do."

Marlene frowned at him. "I'm just letting you know what I think. You obviously care about her, and I want to make sure she doesn't get hurt again."

Sirius was too shocked to speak – it felt like something large and unpleasant was stuck in his throat, and he just stared at Marlene, momentarily winded.

"You think –" he began, but couldn't continue. He swallowed, and forced himself to speak again, sputtering his disbelief: "You think I'd… I'd hurt her like Reggie did?" The very thought made him want to hurl or punch something.

Marlene's expression softened. "No, I don't," she said. "I'm just saying that you and Emmeline…" she shook her head, still frowning. "You're not cut from the same cloth. She's only ever been with one person, where you…" he gestured toward him, looking awkward. "Well… haven't."

Sirius wanted to protest her assertion that he only ever wanted one thing from girls, but couldn't bring himself to. On some deep, dark level in his mind, he knew she was right.

"Emmeline and me… we're not 'together'," he said quietly, frowning down at his hands. His heart clenched over something he couldn't quite comprehend. "...Why are we even having this discussion?" he mumbled even quieter, his voice almost indecipherable. Marlene heard him, however.

"I'm just trying to look out for my friend," she said gently. "I'm not saying that you'd set out to hurt her, but Emmeline's been hurt by a guy before. I want to do everything in my power to make sure that that doesn't happen again." She let out a sigh before smiling slightly at him. "I know that Emmeline really cares about you, Sirius. It's nice to see, really."

Sirius didn't say anything. Marlene silently reached forward and moved her queen so it was right beside his king. It was a checkmate, but out of kindness Marlene didn't say the word – instead, she quietly stood up and made to leave.

"So that's it then?" Sirius asked abruptly, and Marlene turned to look at him. "Conversation over?"

She looked at him for a second before smiling slightly. "For now," she said quietly. And with that, she turned around and walked away.

Sirius just watched her leave, unable to do anything else. Now that she was gone, he finally seemed to be able to register what had just happened – bloody hell, Marlene knew about his feelings for Emmeline! How did she know? And for how long? Was she going to tell?

His and Marlene's conversation came back to him, and his heart sank. Marlene thought Emmeline would get hurt if Sirius pursued her, and Sirius knew on some level in his mind that she was right. He had only ever dated a certain type of girl – girls who were vapid and conceited and beautiful enough to get whatever they wanted. For a while, Sirius had been perfectly happy with these girls, and he would go through one after the other without losing a wink of sleep. It was only through meeting Emmeline that he even realized that he could be getting so much more out of these relationships…

Sirius frowned to himself, feeling dejected. Emmeline was so amazing… she could do much better than the likes of him.

She wasn't going to Slughorn's party, and Sirius figured that was probably for the best. It would give him a chance to readjust to this whole situation, and maybe have a little fun without thoughts of Emmeline weighing him down. He figured after the party, and Christmas vacation, he could finally put his feelings behind him and start acting like his old self again.

He gazed around the common room and spotted Siobhan sitting nearby, her lip curled in disgust as she read through her Potions book. She idly twirled a piece of hair in her finger before glancing up and noticing Sirius watching her. Her eyes narrowed at him in contempt before turning resolutely back to her book; her posture straightened noticeably, and she fluttered her eyelashes imperceptibly as she turned the page, continuing to read.

Sirius continued to look at her, and sighed. He knew what he had to do, and a small part of him felt awful about it. He stood up, however, determined.

It was time to capture the most beautiful and elusive girl at Hogwarts.

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><p><strong>So sorry for the late update, guys:( College plus two part-time jobs can really take up a lot of time and energy. Rest assured, however, that no matter how crazy my life gets in the coming weeks, I will try to make this story a priority:)<strong>

**Hope you liked this chapter, and please review!**


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